Historically, virtual reality has been heralded as the pinnacle of technology and human progress. People have dreamed of a future filled with digital worlds where they can do or be anything or anyone, even more so with the new "Ready Player One" trailer. Well the future is now, and technically the trailer captures a decent amount of the virtual experience. However, the game VRChat has shown us that virtual reality isn't the utopia people were expecting.
VRChat is essentially a raw, bare-bones version of the concept of a virtual world. Players can pick from a variety of avatars or create one themselves before venturing out to meet others. Some of the in-game worlds can have objectives or goals to meet, but most players focus instead on the social aspect.
As the name suggests, VRChat is more of an expressive chat room than an actual video game. As a result, the experience found in VRChat is very different from the future that is portrayed in "Ready Player One."
In the "Ready Player One" trailer, most of the player avatars are more or less an augmented version of their real selves, along with some iconic video game characters. However, as VRChat has shown us, people in the real world just want to be cute anime girls or deformed echidnas instead.
This is actually one of the biggest differences between virtual reality in the "Ready Player One" universe and the virtual reality we know today; "Ready Player One" envisions this digital realm as a better version of the society we have today. With VRChat, pretty much all social conventions are thrown down the drain. Literally anything can happen, and the absurdity and unpredictability of it all makes for a strangely charming time.
The virtual world in "Ready Player One," also known as Oasis, also has everyone moving towards a certain goal (the Egg left behind by the creator). This gives people a reason to constantly log in instead of just living life in their real world. VRChat doesn't have any sort of destination, so players have to come up with other ways to entertain themselves. Since both the avatars and the in-game hubs are generated by players themselves, VRChat thrives off of creativity in a way that science fiction could never anticipate.
Whether you want to share romantic moments among a posse of skeletal soldiers or wander around as Cory, the House (yes you read that correctly), there's never a dull moment to be found in VRChat. Sure, it may have some slight differences from the Oasis of "Ready Player One," but you might just find yourself equally immersed.
