GAMING IN VIRTUAL REALITY AND WAR: THE ROYAL WAY TO TEACHING?

Abstract

What if one could teach XVIth Century politics by taking the students right in the middle of events? This sounds like Star Trek, but is part of the promises brought about by a new wave of Virtual Reality (VR) tools. This paper will approach the issue of military history in gaming, with an accent upon the changes brought by this technological change. While teaching history with video games is a frequently discussed idea in social studies, both regarding the phenomenon of war and other, more general, issues, such as economics, social structures, diplomacy, religion, cultures or gender, Virtual Reality applications are still in flux and its perspectives aren`t very clear. Most of them are software demos or modest programs in comparison with established platforms like PCs, smartphones or consoles, and not only regarding video games. Its supporters argue that the new VR wave of products will change everything about the ways we interact in the electronic world, from using the Internet to publicity or elections, while its opponents consider that is a high-tech luxury for rich people, a mere fad. The paper will present VR`s main features: its technical details, the issue of costs, its most significant applications and some of its potential. The main conclusion is that, while there is a great potential for both playing and teaching military history in Virtual Reality, its prospects depends, the same as in other types of video entertainment, upon a combination of market successes and convincing gameplay (I. Cartarescu-Petrica, 2015; M. Sicart, 2009). For now, it is still too soon to decide if the early hopes weren`t too optimistic.