The Internet: A Gateway to the Future of Virtual Reality

The internet has never been as cool or as futuristic as we hoped. We don't just want data; we want to hang out in an actual alternate universe, metaverse, or cyberspace, whatever we call it. Now that virtual reality is coming back, people have started wondering again what would it take to make you really feel like you were in a place not just looking at it. How could you create an imaginary world as good as the real one?

Virtual Reality: A Technological Marvel

Forget about virtual food, surround sound, smell of vision since the '60s VR headsets we know, like the ones in The Lawnmower Man. There's technology meant to expand human communication that has been the most popular way to hijack your eyes when you put something on, like the Oculus Rift. You're looking at a flat screen through magnifying glasses, but what you see is a 3D image that fills up almost your entire field of view and moves when your head does it. It's pretty bulky right now, but ideally, the same thing could be projected under regular glasses or even straight onto your retina.

Options Galore

You've got all kinds of options from electrical fields that trick your skin into feeling different textures to motor-powered gloves that push back on your fingers to make it seem like you're holding something. People spend a lot of time making VR that's not obviously distractingly unrealistic, and it's not clear we actually can make something that's literally indistinguishable from real life. Unfortunately, it doesn't take a perfect imitation to fool your brain; even if a world doesn't look perfect if it responds well enough when you move, we can start feeling like we're actually in it.

The Limitations of Current Technology

Granted, we still have basically no idea what moving around naturally in Virtual space looks like. I mean, do you use a controller? Do you wave your arms? Do you scrap yourself into a treadmill or a giant hamster ball? It's easier to create specific situations like learning how to fly a plane or sitting in a room full of spiders which is something people can do right now if they want to get over a phobia. If we find a way to manipulate our sense of balance and motion the way that we manipulate our eyes right now, will be a lot closer to our dream of an actual virtual world.

The Metaverse: A Promising but Uncertain Future

Then there's the question of what a populated metaverse would look like. It's easy to see just a cooler version of Second Life in Minecraft, but it could go further than that. If you've ever watched somebody do something dangerous and stupid and kind of Awesome on YouTube, imagine becoming them and then streaming your own crazy stunt just like the internet hasn't replaced our offline lives okay, hasn't completely replaced them. The virtual world could end up being a place we go to make the real one better or corporations could trap us there while they harvest our organs; who knows? It's a wide open field.

The Future of Virtual Reality and the Metaverse

The internet has never been as cool or as futuristic as we hoped, but now that virtual reality is coming back, people have started wondering again what would it take to make you really feel like you were in a place not just looking at it. The technology is meant to expand human communication and has been the most popular way to hijack your eyes when you put something on. While we may not be able to create an imaginary world as good as the real one, we can still start feeling like we're actually in it.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enthe internet has never been as cool or as futuristic as we hoped we don't just want data we want to hang out in an actual alternate universe metaverse or cyberspace whatever so now that virtual reality is coming back people have started wondering again what would it take to make you really feel like you were in a place not just looking at it how could you create an imaginary world as good as the real one so let's forget about virtual food surround sound smell of vision since the' 60s VR headsets you know like the ones in the lawnmower man there's technology is meant to expand human communication have been the most popular way to hijack your eyes when you put something on like the Oculus Rift you're looking at a flat screen through magnifying glasses but what you see is a 3D image that fills up almost your entire field of view and moves when your head does it's pretty bulky right now but ideally the same thing could be projected under regular glasses or even straight onto your retina for touch you've got all kinds of options from electrical fields that trick your skin into feeling different textures to motor powered gloves that push back on your fingers to make it seem like you're holding something people spend a lot of time on just making VR that's not obviously distractingly unrealistic and it's not clear we actually can make something that's literally indistinguishable from real life unfortunately it doesn't take a perfect imitation to fool your brain even if a world doesn't look perfect if it responds well enough when you move we can start feeling like we're actually in it granted we still have basically no idea what moving around naturally in Virtual space looks like I mean do you use a controller do you wave your arms do you scrap yourself into a treadmill or a giant hamster ball it's easier to create specific situations like learning how to fly a plane or sitting in a room full of spiders which is something people can do right now if you want to get over a phobia if you find a way to manipulate our sense of balance and motion the way that we manipulate our eyes right now will be a lot closer to our dream of an actual virtual world world so then there's the question of what a populated metaverse would look like it's easy to see just a cooler version of second light in Minecraft but it could go further than that if you've ever watched somebody do something dangerous and stupid and kind of Awesome on YouTube Imagine becoming them and then streaming your own crazy stunt just like the internet hasn't replaced our offline lives okay hasn't completely replaced them the virtual world could end up being a place we go to make the real one better or corporations could trap us there while they harvest our organs who knows it's wide open fieldthe internet has never been as cool or as futuristic as we hoped we don't just want data we want to hang out in an actual alternate universe metaverse or cyberspace whatever so now that virtual reality is coming back people have started wondering again what would it take to make you really feel like you were in a place not just looking at it how could you create an imaginary world as good as the real one so let's forget about virtual food surround sound smell of vision since the' 60s VR headsets you know like the ones in the lawnmower man there's technology is meant to expand human communication have been the most popular way to hijack your eyes when you put something on like the Oculus Rift you're looking at a flat screen through magnifying glasses but what you see is a 3D image that fills up almost your entire field of view and moves when your head does it's pretty bulky right now but ideally the same thing could be projected under regular glasses or even straight onto your retina for touch you've got all kinds of options from electrical fields that trick your skin into feeling different textures to motor powered gloves that push back on your fingers to make it seem like you're holding something people spend a lot of time on just making VR that's not obviously distractingly unrealistic and it's not clear we actually can make something that's literally indistinguishable from real life unfortunately it doesn't take a perfect imitation to fool your brain even if a world doesn't look perfect if it responds well enough when you move we can start feeling like we're actually in it granted we still have basically no idea what moving around naturally in Virtual space looks like I mean do you use a controller do you wave your arms do you scrap yourself into a treadmill or a giant hamster ball it's easier to create specific situations like learning how to fly a plane or sitting in a room full of spiders which is something people can do right now if you want to get over a phobia if you find a way to manipulate our sense of balance and motion the way that we manipulate our eyes right now will be a lot closer to our dream of an actual virtual world world so then there's the question of what a populated metaverse would look like it's easy to see just a cooler version of second light in Minecraft but it could go further than that if you've ever watched somebody do something dangerous and stupid and kind of Awesome on YouTube Imagine becoming them and then streaming your own crazy stunt just like the internet hasn't replaced our offline lives okay hasn't completely replaced them the virtual world could end up being a place we go to make the real one better or corporations could trap us there while they harvest our organs who knows it's wide open field\n"