Two of the most successful companies in the world, Facebook and Google, have both recently spent billions on creating something that we know as a virtual reality. But what is really considered virtual and why are some of the smartest people in the world obsessed with the idea of a virtual reality?
The early stages of conceptualizing virtualizing real world phenomenons can be found in things like voice boxes for people who couldn’t speak otherwise, where the boxes can detect what a person is trying to say or what they are thinking, and say it for them. The concept of a virtual reality takes things one step further, creating a real world experience for someone, an experience outside of the one that exists on this planet. But is the development of this idea into a reality, no pun intended, good for society. In a world where real person-to-person interactions are declining at a dangerous high rate, do we really need to add more ways for people to avoid being and acting as themselves?
I do believe that there are some very interesting and exciting ways to incorporate virtual reality into human life. This NPR article talks about the amazing experiences one can have that would otherwise be impossible, specifically related to the gaming realm.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2015/03/08/391278229/developers-continue-push-to-make-virtual-reality-mainstream
Virtual reality can also be extremely helpful to training pilots, captains, and drivers. These uses of virtual reality are hugely beneficial to our society.
This use of a virtual reality can certainly be interesting and useful, however, I believe that it is important to know where to draw the line. Years down the road, I would hate to see virtual reality become a way for people to hide from real issues in their lives. It would be sad to see some people regret spending so much time in a world that wasn’t reality.