Summary
Our colleagues from the American site IGN had the chance to interview Gabe Newell, the co-founder of Valve. He returned, for about half an hour, to the current situation of his company. The Half-Life: Alyx topic was of course discussed. The opportunity for this veteran of the video game industry to give his opinion on virtual reality. In particular, he revealed that he believes VR could reach a much more advanced form in a very short time. " We are much closer to The Matrix than people imagine ", did he declare.
Gabe Newell went on to point out that this evolution of virtual reality would not be exactly like in The Matrix. Indeed, the film completely misses the interesting technical subtleties. Neither does it manage to properly represent what will become of our world when the interface between brains and computers is democratized. Yet this should allow to create amazing new experiences for everyone.
A connection with the simple motor cortex
Gordon Freeman's dad then went into the specifics of the brain in more detail. He affirms that connecting an interface to a person's motor and visual cortices is easier than it looks. If for the moment the technology is not yet fully developed, Gabe Newell is convinced that this will be a huge source of lessons. Over the course of the various attempts, we will learn what works and what does not. It will also rule out anything that is not essential in the long run.
When asked if this concept could have an interaction with video games, the boss of Valve answered in the affirmative. He even went further by predicting that players in the world of entertainment in all its forms who do not plan to use this technology can almost already put the keys under the door. If they do not think about it now, it is certain that it will nevertheless be part of their plans in the more or less near future.
While Gabe Newell made no mention of a new virtual reality device in the works at Valve, his words, however, leave little room for doubt. As to knowing what form it will take, only the future will tell.
