Crossposted from SuperConcepts.

A ‘Virtual’ Escape From Economic Pain: http://www.forbes.com/ebusiness/2008/10/09/virtual-world-economy-tech-ebiz-cx_mji_1010virtual.html

It seems that in these times of economic decline, people don’t want to forgo the luxuries that they’ve grown accustomed to over the years, so are choosing to indulge themselves in a virtual manner instead. There’s certainly a lot to be said for staying home surrounded by cheap entertainment compared with going out and being ripped off and mugged. Could this be the future? As Virtual Reality improves, we’ll be finding it replacing more and more of the “Real Life” things we currently take for granted.

Why travel on dangerous, expensive, and environmentally unfriendly airlines when you can immerse yourself in a Virtual holiday? Google Earth and Google Street, not to mention other “virtual sightseeing” options have recently taken a lot of big steps towards this. Although virtual reality interfaces have a long way to go before we can experience all the delights of a trip to somewhere beautiful, in the next few years it will be possible to walk down a foreign street on your computer screen, with the realism of a TV documentary. You’ll be able to go into a real shop, select a real item from a real shelf, and make real purchases from the shops on this street, to be delivered to your door. In Second Life, you can already wander around the accurately recreated streets of Dublin and other major cities. Primitive as it is now, we’ll soon be taking it for granted.

In the very distant future, personal nano-fabrication devices could allow us to recreate the exact tastes and textures of foods available anywhere on Earth. And if not, computer interfaces to our brains will merely simulate the feelings and tastes of eating these exotic cuisines. Whether as part of a virtual reality interface or not, the ability to remotely indulge our senses will surely come from somewhere.

If you don’t think that this will happen, that people will always travel, that we can never get a real sense of what a place is like without actually going there, ask yourself if you would go to the Antarctic. Or the Sahara. Or down to the bottom of the ocean. More likely, you’ll be satisfied with your experiences of these places thanks to today’s Virtual Reality device, the TV. Needless to say, some people will still seek out the real deal, but the majority of people will radically reduce the amount they travel.

It’s not just long distance travel that will reduce, either. Why risk getting beaten up by drunken teenagers when you can sit in a virtual pub, chatting to people with similar interests from all over the world? Why go to the cinema to put up with some idiot crunching popcorn in your ear when you can stay at home and download the latest movie to watch on your 100 inch TV? Why go to the theatre when the performance can be streamed to said 100 inch TV? Why not sit in a virtual stadium to watch your favourite band, where, in the safety of your own home, you can take all the drugs you like without fear of being arrested? Why waste money on fuel to watch your favourite sports team play, when you could stay at home, viewing the action from any camera you wish?

The key is that stay-at-home entertainment will become better than going out, not to mention cheaper, safer, and better for the environment. A culture change on a massive scale is beginning, leading to many unknown implications. What business opportunities might this present?

Not only will replacements of the things we do in real life be options, but we’ll enjoy altogether new forms of entertainment. Instead of a virtual pub, you could be having a drink with some like minded friends on the other side of the world…whilst building a city on a nearby planet. Or racing in the Grand Prix. Or slaying dragons. Massively Multiplayer Online Games already make these scenarios reality for millions of people, and they have the potential to become far more than just games. For many people these alternative realities are already more appealing than real reality – and this is while they are still merely primitive computer games. What about when they become fully immersive virtual reality environments, supplemented with complex life imitating software?

Why unplug?