During the 1970’s, in the midst of the Cold War, technology developed to aid the war effort. Many nuclear bombs were created and an arms race ensued between the United States and the Soviet Union.

One of the “lost” creations of that time was Virtual Reality.

Due to the constant threat and near-annihilation experiences of both the United States and the Soviet Union, VR was cast into the shadows, as as underdeveloped as it was, it still made history as the first “alternate reality” in our reality.

Virtual Reality allows the player to create or play in a world that fits or suits their entertainment or peaceful needs. It makes the player feel calm when they load into a calm mountain scene to meditate, or energized while working out.

A video published by a man that goes by the screen name Disrupt spent a full seven days with his head stuck in a VR headset.

Sleeping, eating, and even showering, Disrupt went through with the idea of being stuck in the players “self-made” reality for a week. He went in expecting major headaches, eye soreness and nausea but he got the exact opposite.

Disrupt made a very in depth video on what his journey was like, one like no other. The landscape of the VR servers allowed him to try something new everyday besides his daily routines of meditation and exercise.

He mentioned that the anonymity of VR is one of the best qualities. Any person, all over the world with internet, with a headset and a computer can go online and be whatever they want, whenever they want.  They will not be judged by how they look, smell, or handle certain situations. Just to have fun and be themselves in an environment that is suited for them and people around them. Symor, another popular Youtuber with over 500,000 subscribers makes different videos weekly about all different kinds of people in VR. Some examples include interviewing a kid with a rare skin disease, a guy talking about his late girlfriend and how he may never find love again. All of these videos talk about a different story, but all end the same. People in VR chat are not judged like they are in real life. It allows the players to be completely anonymous.

Virtual Reality, although ground breaking, does come at a cost to transform their virtual world into anything they would like.

The actual cost can range anywhere from $599 for an Oculus Rift headset or $799 for a HTC Vive headset.

With the cost, it also comes with an addiction risk.

The book and movie, Ready Player One comes to mind whenever I talk about VR, a dystopian future set where a massive easter egg hunt in a virtual reality setting. The hunt engulfed the world around the characters as they cared more about the hunt than their own reality. That same setting, even tho hundreds of years in advance, may be right at our doorstep. With the added addiction of video games by the CDC, many players may get hooked on the fun and different kinds of human interaction throughout their playthroughs.

With this piece of technology, many skills and opportunities may arise. Different virtual sports my come out of the water, as well as tournaments and even jobs. Many different videos were posted throughout the internet of different world records of the fastest things done in games or longest VR livestream. It opens the door for others to accomplish things that they may not find in reality.

This is maybe a decade or two away, but with the route of this “technological” age the world is undergoing, it seems to be knocking on our door.