The probability that you will go to space, climb the Mount Everest or jump out of an airplane – with a clear consciousness, is nearly zero. However, Virtual Reality (VR) gives you the chance to experience those things, without any danger. The impossible becomes possible with computer technology that replicates an environment, real or imagined and simulates a user’s physical presence. It creates artificially sensory experience that can include sights, touch, hearing and smell - fascinating!

On June 12th, a Shanghai VR Gathering event was organized and two VR related Swiss representations were participated. The first one was a Swiss non-profit association called World VR Forum from Geneva. Established in 2015, the Forum is dedicated to advancing the virtual reality industry and culture. It is the first time that World VR Forum is leaving Switzerland for an event in Shanghai! Another startup Apelab, which was one of our guests during Lift China 2014, was founded in 2014 and is also located in Geneva. They use Virtual and Augmented Reality (AR) to create interactive stories and games, exploring new ways to interact, to prototype and test new ideas.

During the event, visitors could experience a few VR products and exchange their feelings with others. Afterwards, guest speakers from both Switzerland and China talked about the future of VR and whether China is becoming a hub for this technology.

It has to be mentioned that a common problem with VR is about motion sickness. Users can be dizzy when the reality perceived differs from the virtually-seen acceleration. This may be the case when the real space available is less than the virtual space in which a user can move - as the expert explained.

- Contributed by Mario Schlaepfer, Junior Project Leader at swissnex China