Mobile phones as intermediaries between realities
I’m starting to formulate a theory and I’d like to start getting it out there, even in its still-partially-formed state.
I think VR (virtual reality) is going to be a big deal. Anyone who has tried putting on an Oculus headset will tell you that it’s a transformative experience — you actually feel like you’re in another world. It’s digital, but it feels real.
I think ultimately existing in digital reality will be just as “real” as existing in physical reality. Some people will even spend more time in digital reality/VR than they do in the physical world.
Yes, this means a “feeding tube” type situation.
When you can fly, be a billionaire, and live in the mansion of your dreams, why go back to boring old physical reality? Except to eat…
And what if you can eat while still being in digital reality?
Anyway, this is coming: Oculus is releasing the consumer version of their Rift VR headset in early 2016. If you have a Samsung Galaxy phone, you can already get the Gear VR, which appears to be a pretty solid version of VR for only $99.
But it’s not here yet, and even still, people are already thirsting for digital reality. I think the biggest indication of this trend is the use of mobile phones to the detriment of physical reality.
By this I mean the people who walk down the sidewalk, checking Facebook while they collide with others. I mean the people who go on a date and, in mid-conversation, will pull out their phone and begin Googling.
Something about the digital world is alluring — and in those examples, explicitly more alluring than the physical world. When people pull out their phones, they are explicitly prioritizing digital over physical.
That’s not good or bad necessarily, but it’s happening. And I see mobile phones as an intermediate phase. It’s clumsy to interact with the digital world through a tiny screen, but it gives people enough of a taste to be extremely compelling. What happens when that screen is 360° and everywhere you look?
Imagine what dates will be like then?