Virtual Humanity

Oculus Rift AP PHOTO

Oculus Rift AP PHOTO

Virtual reality. It was all the rage this year at the SXSW Interactive Conference, with Oculus Rift being the front-runner in the tech game-changer after Facebook purchased it for a reported $2 billion.

But the term virtual reality is nothing new. We’ve been keen to this since the first head-mounted display made an appearance in the late 60s. VR is basically a pseudo-world that can be whatever the software programmers develop for you. Those worlds can be interactive, where people and environments are aware of you and you basically can have whatever experience you wish.

VR seems to be mostly for gaming so far, but I also see this doing well in real estate, education and travel. For the amount of time I get lost spending time on Google Street View looking at random places, a VR device could be life-changing for seeing the world through virtual travel. This would especially be beneficial for those who don’t have the means to travel.

But are we moving too fast?

I worry that virtual reality could kill our human connection. There is nothing wrong with an altered reality that lets you escape the noise and troubles of the real world for a little while, but things like this allow for even less human interaction IRL.

I think a lot of people already know what it’s like to get stuck in an antisocial rut. If you have everything you need right in your own house, why would you leave? Well, maybe you could prune your virtual networking skills. At least, that way, you can ensure that you don’t suffer from loneliness.

Oculus Rift founder 23-year-old Palmer Luckey, who recently hand-delivered his first sale to a customer in Alaska, seems to think his VR device will bring people together. (“I think it’s going to end up being a great technology that brings closer people together, that allows for better communication … not only do you get all the same human cues as real-world communication, you basically suspend the laws of physics, you can do whatever you want, you can be wherever you want,” Luckey stated in an interview with NPR last week.)

But in 2016, everyone is already too busy. In Hawaii, many people have to work more than one job to afford their housing and bills. Commute times added to longer working hours added to family obligations give way to very minimal free time.

If we spent our precious time unwinding absorbed in a virtual reality, that would take away from other critical necessities that make us real: spending time in nature, with family or loved ones, or just in our own head space.

These distractions are worrying me. We have to spend longer than ever to afford all the things we think we need that we never have time to use. When will we have time to alter this reality?

@SUPERCW

CHRISTA WITTMIER IS “SUPERCW” ON ALL SOCIAL MEDIA. FIND HER ON SNAPCHAT, SOUNDCLOUD, TWITTER, VINE AND INSTAGRAM. BY NIGHT, SHE IS KNOWN AS DJ SUPERCW. BY DAY, SHE IS KNOWN AS SENIOR MARKETING DIRECTOR FOR YOUNG’S MARKET COMPANY OF HAWAII. HER NIGHTLIFE BLOG SUPERCITY RUNS EVERY WEDNESDAY ON HONOLULUPULSE.COM