7: Metaverse: Enclosing New Spaces

Virtual reality (VR) has been a longtime dream of technological enthusiasts. In the mid-1990s, I remember going to the Patrick Henry Mall in Newport News, Virginia and seeing a VR machine you could pay $20 to use for 10 minutes. On one trip, I spent my allowance on it. They adorned me with the VR headset and gloves, and I was transported into a virtual world. The graphics were terrible and aside from the fact that I couldn't see or hear anything in the mall, I was very aware that I was playing a video game with people nearby watching me. Fast-forward to 2022 and I just saw a similar apparatus at the Parks Mall in Arlington, Texas when I took my son back-to-school shopping. The equipment was similar except in the intervening 20+ years, it slimmed down quite a bit.