When science fiction isn’t a word of caution — or thought-provoking speculation — it’s often imaginative wish fulfillment of tech we wish we had. VR goggles especially. Stanley Weinbaum’s “Pygmalion’s Spectacles” envisioned the idea way back in 1935, and Neal Stephenson’s 1992 cyberpunk classic “Snow Crash” painted a hyper-immersive metaverse before most folks knew what email was. People have been dreaming of a “Ready Player One” future for years, but arguably, we’re already there — photorealistic graphics aside. VR is affordable (anyone can transform an old phone into a VR headset), and modern headsets are capable of creating deeply immersive interactive environments without being a constant gaming PC accessory. So why aren’t we all flicking video files around like Tom Cruise in the intro scene of “Minority Report” instead of doing so tediously with a mouse cursor?
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Ask Silicon Valley, and their tech demos would have you believe that mixed reality is good enough not to just add to your desktop device, but to be your desktop device. Mark Zuckerberg’s Metaverse and the Apple Vision Pro propose intuitive ways to improve our lives, focusing on practical, everyday applications of spatial computing that extend your digital workspace out into your real environment.
Well, I own the excellent Meta Quest 3, and I’ve tried replacing my desktop PC with it for fun. I have some thoughts. It’s time we talked about how close a VR headset is to replacing your daily driver — and the many ways it falls short.
