PlayStation creator Ken Kutaragi says that the metaverse and VR headsets will only serve to divide the virtual and real worlds. The 71-year-old was one of the prominent people behind the creation of Sony’s PS1, PS2, and PS3 game consoles.
The metaverse has quickly become the buzz word among tech companies and their vision moving forward. Facebook is looking into how it can monetize the metaverse by using your body language and eye movement in order to target you with ads while in the virtual realm. Virtual Reality (VR) headsets are the main portal for entering the virtual realm, and even Sony has its own headset for the PlayStation. SVP of Platform Experience Hideaki Nishino recently announced the next-generation PlayStation virtual reality headset, the PlayStation VR2. The headset is said to come in 2000×2040 per-eye resolution, with the panel inside the headset being an OLED with some degree of HDR support. However, the man that helped Sony bring the PlayStation to life is now saying that VR headsets will isolate the user from the real world, and he cannot agree with the concept in general.
In a recent interview, Kutaragi stated, “Being in the real world is very important, but the metaverse is about making quasi-real in the virtual world, and I can’t see the point of doing it.” He went on to say, “You would rather be a polished avatar instead of your real self? That’s essentially no different from anonymous message board sites.”
While other companies like Apple, Google, and Meta are diving deeper into the virtual world, Kutaragi is making robots. As chief executive officer of Ascent Robotics Inc., he is pursuing his life’s mission of blending the real world with cyberspace. Kutaragi also believes that virtual reality (VR) headsets are simply annoying.
Ascent is developing technology that will enable its robotics systems to help transform real-world objects into computer-readable data. The robots will be smaller, more versatile, and capable of performing various tasks and produce more than one type of product. The company’s products are targeted at retail and logistics, with the goal of freeing up human labor from having to perform grunt work or mundane tasks.
Kutaragi may not be enamored with the metaverse and VR headsets, but plenty of big name tech companies are all in. The idea of being able to escape reality and assume a different persona other than your own, is intriguing to be sure. Companies know this and are ready to fully take advantage of it any way they can monetarily. But you cannot blame Kutaragi for going after his dreams. As he said in this interview with Bloomberg, “I don’t plan to spend a decade or two on making my dreams a reality. I’m 71 and time is short.”
Top Image, Credit: Bloomberg
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