There will be a day when everyone will gladly accept their government-funded virtual reality gear and enter into a brand new, safer world where the streets are safer from accidents, skies stay clear of smog, and we can meet together without fear of infecting one another in a fun, spectacular environment full of possibilities. — Anne Cook
It was years ago I sat in front of a computer and played Second Life. At any time from anywhere, I could sit down and enter another realm from the comfort of my home.
I put on a ball gown to dance at the local Jazz club and have conversations with people from all over the world, granted they were men ‘avatars’ and the goal was dancing on a lonely evening, but that is not all I did.
I lived in a cottage on a beach in a world where people from all over had meetups to write together, classes from MFA instructors, and lectures in large auditoriums.
There in my virtual world, I owned a coffee shop where I had a table in the corner specifically set aside for three of my virtual mafia friends who were big, sexy avatars with tats up their big muscular arms. The leader of the mafia was an owner of a nightclub I could teleport to at any time where he held a special room for the elite, like me — Madame Chaveau. This was all in a virtual world.
I ran Karaoke nights at my little coffee shop where Larry the snail would come sing. I had a wedding party there for Nick, the local Vampire, and his girlfriend Angel. We sent out invitations, hired a DJ, had pictures taken, and danced into the night, all in a virtual world.
People exchanged money, made and sold products, had babies, sent their kids to school. Heck, I even saw a counselor there. She took tips. Her name was Apple.
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4. Expert View: 3 ways VR is transforming Learning & Development
Ridiculous? Maybe. But it was my world to make, grow, and flourish in. You would have yours, and it would look entirely different.
I met new friends there I still know today.
I hung pictures on my wall from the real world, owned a castle, and owned a flying unicorn named Eleutheria, Greek for liberty. I went snow skiing, hot tubing in the alps, lived in a castle, had a yacht, helicopter, and a Cheetah.
We are being ushered into a new era where we integrate virtual living into our real life because in a virtual world almost anything is possible.
Virtual Reality is not just for geeky gamers. Second Life proved that years ago. Now Sansar, Second Life’s new and improved Virtual Reality is making it possible for all of us to BRING back the FIRE into our lives.
Imagine a world where you can design any meeting place, wear any skin — human or otherwise, interact with anyone, anywhere at the click of a mouse. If this is possible, why would we even sit alone in our homes? Why have meetings in Zoom when you can all sit in a virtual classroom together?
In a computer generated world you can pull up videos of the past and reenact anything with any family member or friend at any time in any form. Virtual real estate, I predict, will be parcels of land like Sims you sell and most will buy fabricated homes and features, or build their own.
This is certainly a possible solution to all things social distancing, environmental, travel, and more. It makes sense and is the natural order of things with technology.
Agree? Disagree? Clap, make comments, share, and contact me at anne@bringbackthefire.com I would love to hear your thoughts.
