VR in 2024

Virtual Reality in 2024

I. Introduction

In today's evolving technological landscape, understanding the relationship between technology and human existence is more crucial than ever.  For the past few years, I have seen most of my digital product design work get tossed into the bit-garbage can.  Or, as my college computer science teacher termed it, "The big bit bucket in the sky."  I suspect this has to do with the nature of the digital, with a quick click, a project pivots. There is no real there, there, rather, just a group of pixels on their journey through the pixel lifecycle.  However, occasionally, my professional work will launch to the public, get iterated upon, commercialized, commoditized, and eventually taken down to usher in the next business objective—a pixel's life cycle.

Parallel to my ongoing professional work of pushing pixels through their life cycle, I have been interested in Virtual Reality from the start of COVID-19 until today. I have owned several headsets and seen their graphic and functional evolution as these VR headsets produce higher-quality content.  Apple recently released a $4,000 VR headset, introduced the term “Spatial computing,” and with an unparalleled visual and audio fidelity for consumer use when compared to competitors in the VR device space. 

I have participated in the VR platforms that build the frameworks and marketplaces, aka a “metaverse.”  While I am impressed by the technological evolution of the virtual reality space, I have an ongoing sense that this technological progress is a fool's journey because, similar to my digital work, "there is no there, there."  Instead, we are engaging in these virtual reality spaces that are, at best, temporary and easily disposable.

Several thinkers have contributed insights into the relationship between technology, media, and human existence, illuminating the impact of digital evolution on society. Marshall McLuhan, an influential media theorist, developed the concept of technological determinism, arguing that technology and media are the primary forces driving social and cultural change. His insights emphasize how new media reshape human senses, influencing thought patterns and societal structures. On the other hand, Martin Heidegger, an influential German philosopher, explored the essence of man through his concept of "Being," mainly focusing on how technology influences our perception and interaction with the world. His idea of "enframing" captures how technology can reduce the world to only consumable resources. In "The Future is a Dead Mall: Decentraland & the Metaverse," Kyle Chayka assesses the metaverse, a virtual ecosystem, highlighting how digital worlds often replicate real-world structures. This essay will explore how McLuhan's and Heidegger's philosophies are related to virtual reality and the metaverse, emphasizing how technological evolution shapes human existence and perception.

II. McLuhan's Technological Determinism

Marshall McLuhan's concept of technological determinism is that technology and media are the main drivers for social and cultural change. He argued that the medium itself, rather than the content it carries, influences how individuals perceive the world and interact with it, summarized as "the medium is the message." For example, the modern smartphone influences how the end user consumes and interprets the content on the phone screen.  Another example is a VR headset strapped to your head; entirely isolating a field of view of the physical world, projecting pixels a few inches from the eyes will impact the perception of the content. 

McLuhan believed that each new medium reshapes human senses and affects thought patterns. For instance, the invention of the printing press led to social and societal transformations. According to McLuhan, the idea extends to electronic media, which creates a "global village," an interconnected community in which people perceive time, space, and relationships.

Overall, McLuhan's “technological determinism” emphasizes the role of media as extensions of humanity and can lead to changes in how society functions, interacts, and evolves. Technology has shaped society and culture, with each new medium bringing significant shifts in human thought and perception. In the digital age, technological advances redefine human interaction, as we see today with the smartphone and endless swipeable fresh content.  However, cultural change from technological determinism has yet to occur with virtual reality, even though the technology has been on the market for nearly two decades.  Possibly, the driving force behind these virtual reality headsets is that our tech giants need this technology to create new profit streams as wide as the borderless metaverse. 

III. Heidegger's Concept of the Essence of Man

German philosopher Martin Heidegger addressed the question of the essence of man through his exploration of "Being." In his work Being and Time, Heidegger introduced the concept of "Dasein," a German term often translated as "being there" (or "existence.")  He used Dasein to describe human beings as entities capable of understanding and questioning their existence. Heidegger believed that the essence of man is not understood through traditional metaphysical definitions but rather through an analysis of human existence as "being in the world." Humans are always situated in a particular context, interacting with their environment and others in ways that shape their identity and understanding of existence. In virtual reality, if that digital environment is temporary and disposable by nature (because it is pixel-based), humans cannot mold their identity meaningfully because they are not in a meaningful environment. 

Furthermore, Heidegger explored how technology impacts the essence of man. He introduced the concept of "enframing" (Gestell).  Like McLuhan, he suggests that technology shapes how we relate to the world by reducing it to an exploitable resource. Heidegger argued that a more profound engagement with Dasein (Being) is necessary to understand the essence of man beyond technological influences.  Again, in virtual reality, humans are placed in digital environments and removed from an opportunity for “profound engagement” because the nature of that digital environment is an exploited resource of meaningless pixels. As a result, the metaverse can obscure the true essence of human existence, reducing it to a set of interactions and transactions within a virtual space rather than enabling a deeper engagement with Dasein (Being).

IV. Analysis of the Metaverse: Lessons from "The Future is a Dead Mall"

Kyle Chayka's critique in "The Future is a Dead Mall: Decentraland & the Metaverse" highlights that many virtual worlds often replicate the natural world's economic structures and commercial matters. Purchasing virtual land, digital advertising, and monetizing experiences contribute to the stifling of genuine engagement.

The lines blur between the digital and physical. The virtual world becomes an arena where personal identity is reshaped through the lens of the artificial. Virtual reality creates new interactions that affect how people perceive themselves and others.  Users (individuals) navigate a metaverse using animated character-based avatars inside pseudo-real-world experiences like being in a virtual bar or club. The very nature of the interaction is artificial at its core and lends itself to disconnect from reality.  That connection to reality is necessary for sincere human experiences and interaction. 

Analyzing the metaverse through the lens of Marshall McLuhan's and Martin Heidegger's ideas reveals the implications of this virtual reality technology on human existence. McLuhan's concept of technological determinism highlights how new media redefines relationships and experiences. As a new medium, the metaverse can significantly alter how people communicate, socialize, and perceive the world. Similarly, Heidegger's philosophy sheds light on the dangers of digital spaces. The metaverse can enact a form of "enframing," where technology reduces human interaction to commercial and transactional experiences. This digital framing risks dehumanizing users, reshaping perception and existence in a way that deprioritizes authentic human connection to characterized human connection. 

In this context, virtual reality represents a double-edged sword. On one side, it offers innovative potential for redefining human experiences. On the other, it risks creating a digital landscape that commodifies interaction and reduces existence to transactions, echoing McLuhan's concern about the overwhelming influence of new media and Heidegger's warnings about technology's reductive impact on human essence.

V. Synthesis and Implications

Virtual reality represents a confluence of ideas from Marshall McLuhan, Martin Heidegger, and Kyle Chayka, each offering insights into human identity and perception. McLuhan's technological determinism suggests that virtual reality will significantly reshape how humans interact, perceive, and think as a new medium, ultimately influencing social and cultural frameworks. Heidegger's concept of enframing warns of the metaverse's potential to reduce human existence to digital interactions, potentially overshadowing the richness of authentic human connection. Chayka's critique of the metaverse underscores the challenges of commercialization and disengagement in virtual worlds that closely mirror physical reality.

As digital technology influences human relationships and self-perception, virtual reality introduces ethical considerations around digital identity and the commodification of virtual interactions. The immersive nature of virtual reality raises questions about its impact on social behaviors and the potential for addiction and isolation. While virtual reality promises innovative forms of communication and creativity, we need to balance leveraging its potential and remaining aware of its limitations.

VI. Conclusion

As Marshall McLuhan, Martin Heidegger, and Kyle Chayka observed, virtual reality offers insight into how new media can reshape society. McLuhan's concept of technological determinism highlights how virtual reality redefines relationships and social structures. Heidegger's idea of enframing warns of the streamlined view technology can impose on human existence, turning it into digital transactions. Chayka emphasizes that, despite its potential, virtual reality often replicates physical-world structures and fails to fully achieve its promise.  Just as my experience with digital work is transactional and temporary, so is the digital environment projected inches from the eye inside a virtual reality headset.  At its essence, that digital environment lacks meaning and cannot support sincere human interaction without the richness of a physical world experience.