The New York Times has a review of the Oculus Rift, the new virtual reality (VR) product offered by Facebook. VR is designed to create a compelling experience of “presence” in a synthetic three-dimensional world. VR is hyped as the Next Big Thing, but perhaps it will be the next flying car. Even if VR eventually works, the Oculus Rift itself will probably be remembered in the way now recall early mobile phones in light of our iPhones.
So let’s imagine a near-future world in which VR technology is ubiquitous, affordable, and works really well. This post contains my speculations about what such a technology might mean for mental health.
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