• snooggums@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    The second life/metaverse/virtual reality concept will never be widely accepted by the majority of the population because it just isn’t what the vast majority of people want. They want communication methods that compliment their real world lives.

    Yes, it will probably be more popular at some point than it has been so far if they can pull off affordable ultra realism, but the escapism of virtual worlds appeals to a relatively small portion of the population. Not to mention that a lot of people have a limited amount of free time, and even if it was extremely popular at first, the novelty would wear off fairly quickly for most people.

    • agamemnonymous@sh.itjust.works
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      2 days ago

      Gaming is an absolutely massive economic sector, driven by the escapism of virtual worlds. The functional kernel of the metaverse is a universal game lobby, a place for people to congregate while they navigate between the games they play together.

    • shortwavesurfer@lemmy.zip
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      3 days ago

      I think what we will get out of all this virtual reality research is good augmented reality devices because being able to look at something and pull up information on that thing or instructions on how to use it, etc. would be damn useful. I think I’ve heard of companies using AR and VR for training purposes, like how to work machines in a factory, etc. before you actually start using them.

      • brie@programming.dev
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        3 days ago

        I see people buying $300 AR glasses as a portable monitor to watch porn comfortably while in bed.

      • snooggums@lemmy.world
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        3 days ago

        Remote medical procedures, remote military weapons, remote repair of datellites, etc. will all benefit as well.

        • Couldbealeotard@lemmy.world
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          2 days ago

          I think all of those applications will, or already have, develop independently of something like Facebook metaverse. If anything meta is taking those useful applications and trying to turn it into a household product that nobody needs.

    • skulblaka@sh.itjust.works
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      3 days ago

      The massive popularity of Ready Player One, which was a mostly bland and bad story besides having a Metaverse in it, might imply otherwise.

      • snooggums@lemmy.world
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        3 days ago

        The popularity in the fictional setting, based on speculation?

        The popularity of the book/move, which is a short period of escapism not at all comparable to virtual reality?

        • skulblaka@sh.itjust.works
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          3 days ago

          The popularity of the book/movie incorporating a classic concept of cyberpunk, yes.

          We’ve been dreaming of a Metaverse just about since we’ve had internet. Only, nobody’s made one that’s worth a damn in the real world yet.

    • Ogmios@sh.itjust.works
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      3 days ago

      The second life/metaverse/ virtual reality concept will never be widely accepted by the majority of the populatioj because it just isn’t what the vast majority of people want. They want communication methods that compliment their real world lives.

      It’s the same reason that urbanization collapses every time it gets out of hand, as it did in Babylon and Rome before us. The majority of the population doesn’t even WANT to live in an artificial environment, no matter how hard those who wield power attempt to push it on everyone.