[This short essay from How-To Geek provides an important reminder about how far attitudes among the general public have come toward the use of the most well-known presence-evoking technology. See the original version of the story for three more images. –Matthew]

Virtual Reality Might Finally Be Socially Acceptable

By Sydney Butler, Editor, Hardware and Cutting Edge Technology
November 27, 2024

When I first tried modern VR in 2016, it was a niche technology that drew plenty of mainstream ridicule. Today, things are very different, and no one has to be embarrassed about having a good time in a virtual world anymore.

Palmer Lucky’s Iconic TIME Cover Was Peak Goofiness

The public image of virtual reality did not get off to a great start. I think the most emblematic example of this is the cover of TIME magazine featuring Palmer Lucky, founder of Oculus and a pivotal figure in the modern revival of virtual reality.

Here is a 22-year-old man flailing awkwardly while wearing what seems to be skiing goggles, badly photoshopped onto a stock image of the beach. This was in 2015, when few members of the public had actually experienced the new generation of VR, and before the final production version of the Oculus Rift went on sale.

Even though the technology was undoubtedly good, no amount of technical prowess can overcome the idea that something is just fundamentally uncool. No one wanted to look like Palmer did on that cover, at least not where anyone else could see them!

We’ve Been Exposed to Millions of Goofy VR Videos

One of my wife’s guilty pleasures in life is to watch people make fools of themselves on YouTube channels like Fail Army, and who can deny that it’s always fun to watch people screw up? Before YouTube, we all just watched America’s Funniest Home Videos and Jackass instead.

These channels used to have more than a few videos of people playing in VR and doing something silly. Sometimes it was smashing their TV, or falling over, but a lot of the time it was just that they looked silly. Simply a bunch of people laughing at one person in VR, because VR looked dumb.

Oddly enough, I think that this exposure to content that makes fun of VR has, by and large, inoculated people against the silliness of it. Now it’s no stranger than someone walking their dog, or jumping on a trampoline. Hardly worth turning your head as you walk by.

VR and AR Headsets Are a Fact of Life Now

When VR was just a few small, semi-struggling outfits making hardware that’s barely better than prototype grade, the novelty of VR, and the shakiness of its future, were at an all-time high. Now, there have been nearly 20 million units of Meta Quest headsets sold alone, according to The Verge.

Perhaps more importantly, Apple has produced the Vision Pro, and say what you will about the Cupertino tech giant, Apple does not touch anything seen as uncool.

VR and AR headsets are not only commonplace and affordable, but I think it’s becoming clear to the public at large that this area of technology is here to stay, and will likely be more important going ahead in daily work, education, and entertainment.

No One Bats an Eye at Someone in VR Anymore

I’m not going to say that I look any less ridiculous than Palmer while playing a VR game, I mean just look at me [see image in the original story].

However, when people are at my house, I don’t feel weird about enjoying my VR games as they go about their business. There are public VR booths at every mall, we even have people renting out Quest VR headsets at the local church fairs. No one bats an eye, it’s just another toy. The novelty has completely worn off.

Of course, this doesn’t just matter because I (and presumably you) don’t enjoy feeling self-conscious while in VR. It’s also important for the future and development of VR, because if the public at large don’t accept it, it’s not going to make it very far!