Since Facebook rebranded themselves to Meta in October 2021, every third post on social media has #metaverse included. Yet, whenever I mention one of my favourite topics Virtual Reality (VR), people react with ‘oh that is cool but it does not relate to my business or my role’. Here’s a fact — virtual reality and its cousin augmented reality (AR) are the means to accessing the metaverse so it does not make sense to skip through the need to understand them first.
VR and AR are pre-requisites to the Metaverse
Having personally spent the past 6 years advocating for Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR), I believe that they will become mainstream any day just like a mobile phone and apps are to us today. Up until mid 2020, the barriers that were in the way were the headsets (bulky, expensive and unstable) that the technology is dependent on as well as the internet speed (glitches due to bandwidth) that they rely on. Fast forward past the 2 pandemic years, we saw the fastest ever development in these two areas as we all became frequent users of virtual communication. Face it. It is the reality.
So, what exactly are VR and AR?
Don’t worry I am not going to go ‘technical’ or neither am I able to do so. Just think 3D. Remember those ‘red and blue’ cardboard 3D glasses that once upon a time we got at cinemas and theme park rides? Without fail, at least one person will put it on then say “WOW”. Everything becomes real — 3-dimensional — as if it is coming towards you or you can physically interact with the person or the object. That’s the basis of VR and AR (for explanation purposes) except that nowadays we have advanced beyond 3D to incorporate smell and feeling as well as can achieve this immersive experience at the comfort of your home or space at any time.