I can tell you right now, this Metaverse thing aint gonna be this big-huge thing anytime soon.
As a very frequent VR user, I can tell you that the tech still has... issues. There are two main things preventing its use by many people:
1. Prohibitive cost. A VR unit is expensive... costs hundreds. A fully VR-ready PC costs even more. Now, there is the Quest unit, a self-contained device that doesnt need a PC... but compared to a PC, it is very weak and rather limited in what it can do... many VR apps wont even run on it, or will only run in a diminished capacity. For more serious users who want the Quest... they'll have to connect it to a PC *anyway* to boost the thing's limited power.
2. Side effects and danger! VR isnt the safest thing ever... not yet. When I introduce new people to it at my house, I make it very, VERY clear that A: I have major ground rules for new users and they WILL be followed, and B: if you break the rules, I pull the cable out, forcing VR shutdown. Why? Because VR is more intense than people who have never used it will think it is. It genuinely messes with your head on many levels. Firstly it can make you incredibly sick if used wrong, and this can last for a bit. If not sick, it can make you very dizzy, or simply cause you to outright lose balance. This could result in a serious fall. It also makes you think that the things in the simulation are actually present... even I've done stuff like trying to set the controllers down on a table that doesnt exist. Someone doing something like outright sprinting into a "doorway" that turns out to actually be a freaking wall aint exactly uncommon, and that's every bit as dangerous as it sounds. I always restrict new users to slow, calm programs that, if there is any movement, all that movement is done via teleporting, not smooth locomotion. But even with restrictions in place there are possible problems, so I still have to watch them carefully, I dont walk away when someone else is trying out the unit.
It really doesnt help that most people have no bloody idea of the risks/problems and often DO start using in what is pretty much the direct opposite of a safe method.
I seriously cant overstate how intense the effect of being in it is, either. Before I tried it the first time it looked like a silly gimmick... just a screen in front of your face, whoop-de-do. Then I tried it after a friend told me "seriously, it's more than you think, just try it" and... oh yeah. It's freaking intense. They sure as bloody heck got the whole "immersion" thing down. If you've only seen it on a 2D screen, like those replays of people using it and whatever, you cant grasp what it's like... it's not possible to convey it like that. You HAVE to use it yourself to grasp what it's like.
Also I'm talking about FULL VR headsets here. Not the weird little ones that literally ARE just your phone strapped to your face.
So, with the cost and the mind-warping intensity of what the tech does, that presents a lot of problems that the people who make these things still need to work out. Both types of issues have been getting better, albeit slowly. But it's a long way from being a mass market thing, that's for sure.
just that I value face-to-face real world interaction
One other thing I can say is that this bit here works better in VR than you might think. I started doing this myself recently... there's another user on this forum here who got into this stuff, I helped him to learn it, and then after awhile, we decided to try to meet up in the virtual space as we get along very well but live nowhere near each other.
Meeting in a virtual space is nothing at all like meeting in a normal "online" space. Nor is it like using a phone or whatnot. This aspect of this tech doesnt really exist to replace "real world" interaction, but moreso it exists in the face of the fact that sheer distance (or situations like the pandemic) prevent that interaction normally. It's a lot more up-close and personal and has the benefit of not needing you to sit in one bloody spot and stare at an unmoving screen, or stand there holding a phone to your head.
The whole thing has A LOT of communication potential, which has been inflating more and more as time goes on.
For anyone who wants a bit of a glimpse of the whole thing, I did this topic recently:
I made a video to talk at you a bit...
I used VR to create the video in that topic, and when you see my full character there on-screen, I'm literally standing in front of a virtual mirror... so all those movements and gestures and such are mine. The video is not JUST meant to educate about VR, I kinda just wanted to try talking at everyone a bit, but still, I show off some stuff there. The program in the video, and indeed some of the environments shown, are some places where the two of us have met to chat and explore and such.
On a side note, VR tech also has a LOT of potential therapeutic use. That's a whole topic in and of itself.
Sorry, that was rambly, but this is one of those subjects I'm really into, and the topic of the Metaverse specifically has been brought up to me more than a few times. But yeah, dont expect it to go all Ready Player One anytime soon. Mind-blowing as it is, it just aint there yet.
