John Burger writes in today about the virtues and vices of virtual reality.
Gan advises parents to experience VR with their children, “rather than proselytize and pontificate” about the dangers. “Be there with them and then go through a Socratic method, as it were, of talking through as to why, what’s the need that’s being met? And then through that, a lot more of that communication and understanding will be developed between child and parent, because it’s no longer a parent who stands aloof, it’s a parent who stands there with them.” If parents find the VR use is leading in an unhealthy direction for their kids, he suggested, it’s time to “walk with them and lead them to this more exciting, more engaging and more beautiful experience.” Gan warns that the more our technological advances take us away from God, “the more depression, the more sadness, the more unhealthy habits that are being adopted, just fill in the gaps”: addiction in all its forms to other things that will not satisfy.
The platform is rapidly expanding and while the professional models are still a little more pricey than the average consumer would like, products like Google Cardboard are putting VR capabilities in the hands of anyone with $20.
Is VR the next big thing, or will is it just a fad that will disappear? What do you think?
And today we celebrate...
