Featured in the Wall Street Journal: https://www.wsj.com/articles/metaverse-experience-facebook-microsoft-11636671113
Although I wouldn’t recommend anyone leaving a headset on for 24 hours or for long periods, it does beg the question of what our future will look like as we hope to emerge from the Covid pandemic and restrictions eventually – How much would VR become a regular part of our daily lives?
AltspaceVR was featured with some criticism, but the other side of the criticism is that Altspace is in the aftermath of several unfavoured changes at the time of this story. Had this been filmed earlier this year, the general vibe of AltspaceVR would have been more positive. Particularly when people didn’t. However, it did point out that the Metaverse may not be “here” as it is being sold to us by platform owners.
The main challenge is getting everyday consumers to use it in their real-life or be applied as an incentive to partake in the technology change in the workplace, which is driven by the demand at the moment, which has been stagnant in growth. But it is important to note that VR is growing slowly but surely, but some of the main challenges relate to privacy and which companies control the Metaverse.
Opinion: We will move towards VR but we are too divided, don’t trust tech companies & simply, we don’t know where VR will go.
The pandemic has accelerated the growth and demand of VR in the last two years, and there is no doubt about that. Even now, people are looking for new ways to socialise online, and VR is something that no doubt will get discovered if someone is seeking a way to connect. When I joined VR last year, it was mind-boggling at the time being told that this platform (AltspaceVR had been around for a few years) and it left me asking, why hadn’t I joined sooner?
When I reflect on why I hadn’t been on VR sooner, it is clear that the price barrier was the main problem as I once played around with a Google cardboard setup and got bored after a few days. After seeing the Quest 2 around on the internet promoted, I invested a headset, and I never looked back.
Understanding price and the exposure to VR are two factors; I think the barrier now would be trust and funding. Also many people feel that Oculus/FaceBook/Meta shouldn’t control someone’s ability to work. IE: Facebook ban would render a headset to be an expensive brick.
It’s hard to say when the big move to the Metaverse will be. The problem is, Microsoft might follow suit, and if they do, you can guarantee there will be a drive to jailbreak headsets and becomes a cat and mouse game with the internet for change to be made. But at least Meta’s marketing capabilities will enable mass people to get their first and only economically priced headset by the same people trying to control more of our lives, so it feels to too many people.
