The next fire

As someone relatively new to the VR world, I’m learning more and more about it every day. And one thing I’ve learned is that we’re just scratching the surface of understanding how VR will change everything.

In many ways, the invention of VR is like the discovery of fire.

Like fire, the power of VR is immediately obvious.

Like fire, VR is hard to describe in words to those who haven’t yet experienced it.

Like fire, VR can hurt you OR can make you way more comfortable.

Like fire, VR has some immediate obvious uses but with time, we’ll discover new, more interesting uses.

Fire can cook food! Fire can cause chemical reactions! Fire can be harnessed to create energy! These uses, and many more, were discovered long after fire was first discovered.

Similarly, we know that VR can emulate the real world and create alternate realities. And we’re learning it can increase empathy and even improve social skills for people with autism. What else can VR do?

While fire was discovered over a million years ago, it wasn’t regularly used until hundreds of thousands of years later (source). Hopefully we’re a little quicker this go around.