"In the MetaVerse, you are talking to people."

Dear Reader,

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, like most tech-obsessed, I purchased a VR headset to exercise. I was impressed by my first VR headset, the Oculus 1st Gen (now known as Meta Oculus).

I suspect that the mainstream adopted the Oculus because of the smoothness of the frame refresh, the controller tracking, and the affordable cost. These reasons combined to bring a great deal of entertainment when our covid stricken world hid indoors (thereby moving much of our physical life to a digital life).

My workout app of choice, Supernatural, was an escape and got the heart rate up. Perhaps a future letter about exercising in VR.

The exercise was the purpose of my VR purchase, but entertainment and social apps were an excellent attraction.

During my App Store exploration, I came across several social apps - VR Chat, AltSpace, and eventually Meta Horizons. These online social environments reminded me of my brief earlier experiences in Second Life. (A service that required a far superior computer than what I could afford at the time in my early 20s).

While each VR social platform has its characteristics, the concept is essentially the same. One platform has multiple rooms where people gather and chat as avatars (cartoon figures representing their physical selves). Some virtual chat rooms are more popular than others (such as chat rooms with a theme like a virtual comedy club).

My app of choice was AltSpace, owned by Microsoft (see the image of my Avatar). For the past three years, I regularly dropped in on these services and socially engaged with strangers. When logging into these services, traditionally, there is a warning "You are talking to people." This message is a friendly reminder not to be an asshole, as there are people with feelings on the other side of the Avatar.

Initially, my experience was filled with casual conversations and occasional young trolls popping into and out of rooms to raise audio hell. The chat topics didn't range much and focused mainly on being inside a virtual world. Very seldom did discussions shift to more exciting matters. Discussions remained focused on being in this cartoon environment. In the media industry, professionals preached that this was the "next big thing" and would be the future of corporate America. In a siren song to the tech industry, Facebook rebranded as "Meta" This was the future of the internet! Get on board.

As time passed and the pandemic continued, I, too, continued to check in on my VR chat rooms. However, I noticed that the topic of conversation largely remained identical - strangers discussing our experience of being cartoon characters inside this virtual world. After three years, I can't remember a single discussion of any real substance. My memory is a blur of moments centered around a virtual theme.

"You're a cartoon character."

"I'm a cartoon character."

"Look at that person; they are a cartoon character."

"Look at your hand move; it's not attached to your body!"

"Look at that virtual tree. It's like a tree, but not!"

"Did you visit that virtual Star Trek world? It's like you are in a cartoon of Star Trek!"

I think about how much the VR experience needs to evolve to attract the corporate or education industries. Think about the C-Suite jumping into a meeting to have time waste away as they discuss their lack of legs.

This consistent lack of substance brings me to the conclusion that I am not betting on the success of the Metaverse to the extent that our tech titans are betting. Simply jumping on a zoom meeting provides more substance than having to put on a headset and navigate the virtual world.

I know there is a substantial place for VR in the gaming industry. I know there is a place for VR with immersive video and education content. I know there is a place for a dopamine hit to occur two inches from your eyes.

However, VR as a means to gather strangers (such as in a classroom or a town hall), I have yet to witness how any version of this current experience can offer a more substantial experience than simply firing up a video call where you, too are talking to people.

Thanks for reading,

Christian