Episode 80 - We return to the Metaverse!

Several aspects of the “human condition” will forever remain funny to me… one of which is our never ending desire for “the next best thing”… when I was a kid I distinctly remember dreaming of a future promised to me by the Science Fiction tv shows, movies, and books of the day… communicators, video calls, holodecks… I wanted it all! 

So now, in 2024, I sit here with my smartphone beside me that can place me in contact with anyone I’ve ever met, complete with a built-in camera that places them in front of my eyes at the push of a button, and just beside it is a white and black contraption of plastic and glass that, when pulled over my face, has the ability to transport me to far off worlds, impossible realms, or even a 3D rendered conference room in a virtual high rise overlooking a city that doesn’t exist… 

With all of that near-magical technology at my fingertips, is it bad (or even wrong) that my first inclination is to stare at that headset and ask the question… why isn’t this better? Why aren’t people clamoring to spend every spare moment exploring a digital frontier that is limited only by the imagination and creativity of the developers on the other end…

That same kid in the 90’s that craved “the future” would have picked up my headset, turned it on, and never wanted to come back! The “me” of 2024 though, can hope on a good day to make it an hour before the headaches set it, the edges of vision start to get far too blurry, and the “off” button starts calling my name. But this is the promise of the technology, right? The next one is going to crack it, the displays will improve, the latency edging close to zero… we’re so close!

The questions that remain, though, is what is close? Does camera tech need to evolve? Is placing an 8K display millimeters from my eyes the answer? Or is there something just beyond the horizon that stands to disrupt everything we think we know about Virtual, Mixed, and Augmented Reality? 

They call it the metaverse, I call it a fun way to spend exactly one hour at a time, but that kid will never stop dreaming of it being “the future”…