Blog #7

Often, we tend to look at what others have, and stand in awe. Whether that's through social media, or just looking with your own two eyes. It always seems like the grass is cut greener on the other side. And in some cases, maybe it is. While virtual reality won't change your reality as it is, it will allow you to immerse yourself in a new reality. Virtual reality has been a concept for a long time. In fact, dating back to the stereoscope which had its first version created all the way back in 1832. While technically, you wouldn't consider a stereoscope to be a virtual reality, it was still a necessary precursor to what would be virtual reality. 

As the years went on, multiple different versions of VR were created which led up to VR as we know it today. The most notable coming in 2010, when Palmar Luckey developed the first version of the Oculus Rift. While at first the rift was limited, as time went on, the rift was further developed, and more advanced versions of VR were introduced. Don't color me surprised when I tell you they were a hit. Kind of. While some of the VR services weren't quite as successful or didn't publish sales records, SONYS PS4 VR headset did. In less than three years from June 5th, 2017, to January 6th, 2020, the PS4 VR headset sold over 5 million units. This was an absolute huge win for the VR industry. It proved that people wanted VR content. The thing is, the PS4 is a video game system. Therefore, there would be significantly more content and video games specific for VR use. 

The reason VR was so popular was because it was something we had never seen before. We had read many stories and seen movies that depicted a world with ultra-advanced technology. This felt like the first step into entering that world. Many people would become early adopters as they would want to test out this new technology for themselves. While the expectations weren't sky high, the excitement of trying a generational type of technology such as VR that had often been depicted in the past was an exciting opportunity many would not pass down. 

While there were those were excited for VR, there were those who weren't. This was a pretty small minority as you always have your conspiracy theorists and people who tweak out over nothing. With that being said, this new type of technology being developed did point us potentially in the direction of one day living in a world where we cannot function without technology and lose control. While we are already pretty much dependent on technology to make it through our day to day lives, we still at least have a steady control on what technology can and cannot do. But the fear of one day losing that control is always what people have feared. Also potentially living in a world where the VR world is better than the real one. 

I think the movie "Ready Player One" directed by Steven Spielberg is one of the perfect depictions of what people fear will come out of VR, and eventually the metaverse. A life where people would rather spend their time on their headset and living another life instead of their own. Being under the control of a world that doesn't even exist. Even then, the likelihood of this happening to the degree of what we would see in a movie is pretty unrealistic. While there are definitely downsides like people being too dependent on technology, and people becoming more of hermits inside their homes, there will always be people who want nothing to do with that. Who would much rather make memories and have good times in the real world. How do I know that? Because I would consider myself to be one of those people. I enjoy what I can get on the internet, but nothing compares to the real world.