This email makes such a bold assumption - that VR will play out like a repeat of smartphones. Or that some "next big platform" will. Is that guaranteed? Cars, houses, aircraft, boats, bicycles - all have mostly kept their basic form factors for decades, once developed and optimized.
I'm dubious that VR will ever be much more than a game platform. Certainly not a substitute for physical life.
Things you can't do in VR:
- have a normal tactile response to objects
- feel the acceleration of a vehicle
- feel the warmth of a fire
- eat a good meal
- eat a good meal with friends
- buy a coffee and get a buzz
- enjoy the smell of caramelizing onions
- get a lifesaving surgery
- have sex
- feel a comforting arm on your shoulder
- do something intricate with your hands and fingers, like carving something into a piece of wood with a nail; even picking up the nail in VR will be hard, let alone the subtle movements, grips and holds, and tactile feedback we take for granted
- experience nature, animals, ecosystems, and interact with them (as they really are, not cutesy programmed versions)
It’ll be full VR. With the headset on you’ll be Hugh Hefner, but with the headset off it’s just you, this (https://youtu.be/qobhDJ_vEOc), and the advertisers selling anti-depressants.
This is wrong, I know of a project where you sit in the backseat of a car, put a VR headset on that's connected to the car. There is a driver and you are on a special track in real life. Acceleration is real, but on the VR thingy you are elsewhere. Not sure if it was ever released.
I'm dubious that VR will ever be much more than a game platform. Certainly not a substitute for physical life.
Things you can't do in VR:
- have a normal tactile response to objects
- feel the acceleration of a vehicle
- feel the warmth of a fire
- eat a good meal
- eat a good meal with friends
- buy a coffee and get a buzz
- enjoy the smell of caramelizing onions
- get a lifesaving surgery
- have sex
- feel a comforting arm on your shoulder
- do something intricate with your hands and fingers, like carving something into a piece of wood with a nail; even picking up the nail in VR will be hard, let alone the subtle movements, grips and holds, and tactile feedback we take for granted
- experience nature, animals, ecosystems, and interact with them (as they really are, not cutesy programmed versions)