I guess it could be useful in a world where climate change and/or a far worse pandemic have made being outside extremely dangerous. But I think we'd have far bigger problems than VR in that case (like food scarcity).
With that said, even the iPad was sort of a goofy device that everyone dismissed initially (iirc). It's hard to imagine the same thing with AR/VR communication though, given the currently known tech limitations and just the sheer dorkiness and/or cumbersomeness of wearing an external device that doesn't look like regular glasses (which are also already perceived as dorky).
In addition, for VR there's always this question of "where do we use it?" I stopped using mine because (despite having a sufficiently large space) I kept hitting my furniture or barely missing the TV. I don't think this problem is solvable with technology, and not many people can afford large enough spaces to address this. AR is a different story though.
I think they should follow the approach of beachhead markets if they want to prove it could be useful. If it can't be widely adopted even by a niche audience atm, then there's little hope for mass adoption/usefulness. Microsoft is a good example of that - they are/were trying to position the AR headset as a workplace device first and foremost, and even that seems yet to be widely adopted within its market. But figuring out the right initial market takes time.
> But I think we'd have far bigger problems than VR in that case (like food scarcity).
If we’re looking at the big picture, mature VR/AR will help suppress social unrest. It will help with other issues like the scarcity of physical space.
This is actually one of the reasons that attracted Carmack to VR. I’m paraphrasing him poorly, but in one of his talks he mentions that “In real life, we don’t have the resources to give everyone their own private bowling alley, but this is possible in VR”
With that said, even the iPad was sort of a goofy device that everyone dismissed initially (iirc). It's hard to imagine the same thing with AR/VR communication though, given the currently known tech limitations and just the sheer dorkiness and/or cumbersomeness of wearing an external device that doesn't look like regular glasses (which are also already perceived as dorky).
In addition, for VR there's always this question of "where do we use it?" I stopped using mine because (despite having a sufficiently large space) I kept hitting my furniture or barely missing the TV. I don't think this problem is solvable with technology, and not many people can afford large enough spaces to address this. AR is a different story though.
I think they should follow the approach of beachhead markets if they want to prove it could be useful. If it can't be widely adopted even by a niche audience atm, then there's little hope for mass adoption/usefulness. Microsoft is a good example of that - they are/were trying to position the AR headset as a workplace device first and foremost, and even that seems yet to be widely adopted within its market. But figuring out the right initial market takes time.