The VOAT Players
And their brilliant idea
It was bright and sunny when I arrived at Darville Park. A good day to play Virtual Open Air Tennis or VOAT, as the fans called it. What was VOAT? All your life, you played virtual tennis using a VR set inside your home. If You take that same VR set outside and play, that was VOAT. You get to feel the natural breeze on your skin that no VR set can simulate. Of course, the Vitamin D you get from the sun is a bonus!
I chose a spot next to a park bench. I wore my Meta Quest 99 and started playing against a virtual opponent matching my skills. The virtual ball made a familiar sound when it bounced off the virtual racket. When the game ended after twenty minutes, I removed my Meta Quest gear and looked around.
That’s when I noticed a slim guy sitting on the park bench with an advanced VR set — Meta Quest Pro — next to him. Pointing at his VR set, I asked him, “Are you a VOAT player?”
“Oh, yes.” We introduced ourselves and shook hands.
“I want to upgrade mine to a Quest Pro. How do you like yours?” I asked.
“Oh, it’s fantastic. It’s smoother and faster. And the surrounding it creates is richer. And the virtual opponent looks and moves in a much more realistic manner. It’s as if-” He stopped mid-sentence and stared at me.
I smiled and asked, “What?”
“I have an idea… it may sound crazy, but-”
He went on to explain the idea. It was fucking brilliant!
That’s how we got rid of our VR sets and started playing with each other. With a real tennis racket and a real tennis ball.
I’ll never go back to the VR stuff.
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