Difference between revisions of "Virtual Reality"

Revision as of 13:14, 27 April 2025

Virtual Reality (VR) refers to computer-generated simulations that create immersive environments, often replicating aspects of the physical world or creating entirely new ones. While Destiny and Destiny 2 do not feature native support for real-world VR headsets, the underlying concepts of simulated realities, digital consciousness, and complex virtual environments are central to several key elements of the lore and gameplay, particularly concerning the Vex and advanced Golden Age technologies.

In-Universe Concepts Analogous to Virtual Reality

Within the Destiny universe, several technologies and phenomena function similarly to or are direct examples of virtual reality systems.

The Vex Network

The most prominent example of a virtual reality-like construct in Destiny is the vast Vex Network. This is not VR in the sense of human entertainment, but a complex, interconnected computational substrate where the Vex run countless simulations. Their collective intelligence allows them to generate simulations of real-world events with remarkable accuracy, including predictive modeling of possible futures. This network functions as a parallel virtual reality, nearly indistinguishable from the physical universe to those within it. The Vex treat reality and simulation as largely interchangeable, seeking to alter the physical world to match their internal, "perfect" patterns derived from simulations.

Key aspects include:

• Simulation Capabilities: The Vex Network can simulate past, present, and future scenarios across potentially vast scales, possibly encompassing the entire Sol System and beyond. They use these simulations to test outcomes, predict threats (like Guardians), and plan their actions, often attempting to engineer specific futures.
• Consciousness Simulation: During the Golden Age, researchers from the Ishtar Collective on Venus discovered that a captured Vex unit was simulating them with perfect fidelity within the network. They found hundreds of identical copies of themselves, leading to the unsettling realization that distinguishing between reality and simulation was incredibly difficult 1. This highlighted the Vex's ability to accurately copy and simulate sentient minds, though they struggle with paracausal entities like Guardians. Quria, Blade Transform famously created simulations of Oryx before being Taken, later using these simulations while under the control of Savathûn.
• Digital Existence: The Vex themselves, particularly their core intelligence housed within Radiolarian fluid, exist fundamentally within this network. Copies of the Ishtar researchers, notably Maya Sundaresh, were able to persist within the network long after their physical counterparts presumably died, exploring the network and influencing events 2.
• The Infinite Forest: Located within the hollowed core of Mercury, the Infinite Forest is a massive, planet-sized Vex machine described as a simulation or prediction engine. Overseen by Panoptes, Infinite Mind until its destruction during the Curse of Osiris campaign, the Forest runs trillions of realities in parallel to determine paths toward Vex goals, such as a future devoid of Light and Darkness. Anything within the Forest's simulations is real enough to pose a lethal threat, and simulated realities could potentially "leak" into the physical world. Guardians enter this simulated space physically but experience digitally constructed, often procedurally generated realities within.
• Limitations: Notably, the Vex struggle to accurately simulate paracausal forces like the Light and the Darkness. They also have difficulty simulating complex AIs like Warminds (e.g., Rasputin) due to their complexity 3. This inability prevents them from perfectly predicting outcomes involving Guardians or the forces of Darkness, making Guardians a persistent anomaly in their calculations.

The CloudArk

Developed by human survivors on Neptune who founded the hidden city of Neomuna, the CloudArk is a sophisticated virtual reality construct and data network, directly inspired by studies of the Vex Network. Its infrastructure is supported and protected by the paracausal energy of the Veil.

Key aspects include:

• Purpose: The Neomuni utilize the CloudArk for recreation, massive data storage, communication, civic management, and coordinating defense via the Cloud Striders.
• Immersion: Neomuni citizens can spend extended periods within the CloudArk, experiencing diverse virtual environments while their physical bodies remain safe (often in cryogenic pods).
• Avatars & Interaction: Users represent themselves with customizable avatars and can interact within realistic virtual cityscapes or more abstract data realms. They can also manifest as holographic projections in physical Neomuna.
• Vex Interaction: While the Vex cannot easily infiltrate the CloudArk (likely due to the Veil's influence), they were discovered attempting to harness its computational power. It was also found possible for Cloud Striders to access the Vex Network via the CloudArk 4. An entity known as Aesop, believed to be a Vex Mind, once plagued the nascent CloudArk before being repelled 5.

Golden Age Technology

While direct evidence of widespread consumer VR is scarce, the Golden Age saw the development of technologies touching on simulation and digital consciousness:

• Exo Program: The creation of Exos by Clovis Bray involved uploading human minds into artificial bodies. While Bray sought physical immortality, the process involved complex mind-mapping, digital transference, and a virtual interface to help consciousness adapt and mitigate Dissociative Exomind Rejection (DER) 6. This represents a form of consciousness transition mediated by a virtual layer.
• Warminds: Complex AIs like Rasputin ran sophisticated simulations for strategic analysis, threat assessment, and defense protocols. While not typically interactive VR environments for others, they represent highly advanced simulation capabilities developed by humanity. The Ishtar Collective contacted a Warmind to help determine if they were trapped in a Vex simulation, leveraging the fact that Warminds were too complex for the Vex to simulate accurately at the time.
• Ishtar Collective Research: Beyond their Vex studies, the Ishtar Collective, sometimes collaborating with BrayTech, developed advanced AI like Soteria, the Augurmind, designed to aid extrasolar colonization using simulations, potentially incorporating Vex technology. Maya Sundaresh later developed "the Device," mimicking Vex gateway systems, to probe timelines, though it had dangerous side effects 2.

Other Simulated Environments

• Nightmare Hunts: Introduced in Shadowkeep, Nightmare Hunts pit Guardians against Nightmares – simulated manifestations of past traumas and defeated enemies (like Crota, Taniks, or Ghaul) conjured by the Pyramid on the Moon. While driven by the Darkness rather than traditional technology, these encounters function as a form of psychological warfare using simulated foes within specific arenas.
• Presage Mission: The Presage mission aboard the derelict Cabal ship, the Glykon, features reality warped by the Darkness and the Scorn experiments within. Shifting corridors, temporal distortions, and hostile manifestations create an environment akin to a nightmarish simulation challenging Guardians' perceptions 7.

Gameplay Activities Employing VR Concepts

Several Destiny activities directly involve navigating or interacting with simulated environments:

Lore Implications and Cultural Impact

Virtual reality and simulation are pivotal elements in Destiny's lore and themes:

• Vex Threat: The Vex's mastery of simulation makes them a unique existential threat. Their ability to model realities and predict outcomes allows them to wage war on a conceptual level, aiming to simulate themselves into the fundamental laws of the universe. Disrupting these simulations is key to hindering their progress.
• Nature of Reality: Encounters with Vex simulations, particularly the Ishtar Collective's experience, raise philosophical questions about the nature of reality, consciousness, and identity within the Destiny universe. The potential for simulated beings to achieve sentience poses ethical dilemmas.
• Technological Advancement: Human interaction with Vex simulation tech, from the Ishtar Collective to Elsie Bray's timeline-hopping, and the Neomuni development of the CloudArk, shows simulation as a contested and evolving technological frontier. Braytech VR challenges push Guardians to adapt and match advanced threats.
• Narrative Device: Simulations like the Infinite Forest and Nightmares allow the narrative to revisit past events, explore alternate timelines ("possible futures"), and manifest abstract concepts (like trauma) as tangible threats for players to overcome.

Out-of-Universe Connections

It is important to distinguish the in-universe concepts from external, real-world applications related to Destiny:

• No Native VR Support: Destiny and Destiny 2 have never shipped with official support for VR headsets (like Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, PlayStation VR, etc.) on any platform. Attempts to use third-party injectors (e.g., VorpX) are generally blocked by the game's anti-cheat systems.
• Rec Room Collaboration: In July 2024, Bungie collaborated with the social VR platform Rec Room to create a detailed replica of The Tower hub. This allows players on VR or other platforms to explore the environment within Rec Room, but it is a separate application based on Destiny assets, not an integration into the main game.
• Promotional 360° Videos: Bungie has occasionally released promotional trailers or environment showcases as 360-degree videos viewable with VR headsets, but these are passive, non-interactive media experiences.
• Game Development Technology: The game engine uses simulation technology for physics (e.g., Havok), cloth dynamics, lighting, and AI behavior to create an immersive world, but these are standard game development tools, not in-universe VR systems accessible by characters.

Trivia

• Failsafe, the AI of the Exodus Black, maintains simulations of her former crewmembers.
• Some fan theories propose that aspects of the game, like the Dreaming City's curse loop, might involve complex simulations, potentially influenced by Vex technology harnessed by Savathûn.

Links

• VR Wiki