Tech in Focus: Virtual reality games big at GDC 2019

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Around 30-thousand gamers have descended upon San Francisco to attend the Game Developer's Conference. It's the place where powerhouse gaming companies and start-ups showcase their latest technologies to inspire creativity. CGTN's Mark Niu is there.

At this year's Game Developer's Conference in San Francisco, humans spend quality time with a virtual human.

I soon strap on a headset and backpack that allow me to roam free in a relatively new experience - a virtual reality escape room in Vertigo Game's The Corsair's Curse.

After the escape, I try out Vertigo's Arizona Sunshine, a game where I work together virtually with someone I've never actually met in the real world. As we climb, tiptoe, and battle zombies, I'm amazed that the programming is smart enough to keep us from bumping into walls or each other. Free Roam VR spaces like this have been expanding to shopping malls throughout the U.S. and many parts of the world.

JOHN COLEMAN, DIRECTOR OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT VERTIGO GAMES "What it does have the power to do is, if you look at what's behind us is people playing together. Sort of like you go to the movies with people. Few people go to see it by themselves. I think that social dynamic, drawing people to malls brings more foot traffic."

MARK NIU SAN FRANCISCO "And game character creation through motion capture is becoming simpler and cheaper. With Reallusion's iClone, all you need is an iPhone and their software, and I can drive this character and put on whatever expression I choose."

In fact, this same technology was used to transform actor Keanu Reeves in his most recent film Replicas.

JOHN MARTIN, VICE PRESIDENT REALLUSION "We provide a bridge for you to create a character, animate a character, and get motion data that's basically only compared to what you see a few years ago in Triple-A Studios or film studios. Now it's available for everyone."

For the Chinese company, Wonder Painter, a drawing takes seconds to capture and then become full of life on screen. And that goes for objects, too, and even people like me. The thought of becoming a heroic video game character is no longer a dream. At GDC, experimental games are also working to turn the most dreaded tasks into fun.

And in this game called RoamBot, players use TV antenna to tune into a robot's dreams. At GDC, the past and present collide giving us a vision of what may be to come.

Mark Niu, CGTN, San Francisco.