This article was originally published in March of 2016

So, I Tweeted this video a couple weeks ago:

My coworker trying out Leap Motion’s newest software: Orion.

Within 2 minutes I got 14 retweets. I was shocked. 14? Good golly; my record prior to that was something like 8.

Now there’s 5,200 retweets. Plus 330,000 views on YouTube and 5 million views on Imgur. We also made the top post on Reddit for a day.

I really only expected my close circle of Twitter friends to see it. The internet is a fascinating thing.

The story behind the video

Several people asked me what inspired me to film that video. Well — erm — there isn’t really a story.

I honestly just love to capture videos of people in VR (with their consent) because let’s be real: from the outside, we look hilarious in headsets. These videos will be entertaining to look back on in the next 30 years, kind of like how we laugh at how big computers used to be.

“Kids, back in the day, your mother had to use a fishing pole to hold up her headset cables.” Source

I want to capture what it looks like when someone is immersed in another “world”.

Maybe because I’m anticipating that they’ll run into a wall, knock over their coffee mug and/or the cat on their desk. Or maybe I want to document their behaviors and gestures for research purposes. Or maybe I just want to capture this phenomenon so that our grandchildren can swipe through these videos on their augmented Instagrams (InstARgram?) and question our sanity at this stage in humanity.

Can you imagine virtual Flappy Bird?

And for some reason, people really connected with the video I posted.

*clears throat*: I’m not dating my coworker

While I was warned to not read the comments that the Lovely Internet People left on Reddit, I couldn’t help but pour a cup of coffee and take a scroll through the forums.

Let’s just say that the coffee should have been a little harder.

All jokes aside, it’s been oddly fascinating to glean interpretations of the video from thousands of comments. The top reactions I gathered were:

I am dating the guy in the video and I’m mad that he’s not paying attention to me.

2. There’s no way he can be controlling things with just his hands.

Actually, this is real, thanks to Leap Motion’s newest software update: Orion.

3. He’s watching porn.

4. I have a resting bitch face.

5. Bitch.

6. Our future is doomed.

7. People in headsets look ridiculous to outsiders.

Which one was I going for? #7. But as we all know, things can be interpreted in an infinite amount of ways on the Internet.

And that’s okay, because these comments were more enlightening than anything else because they revealed a concern that many consumers share: VR is going to tear us apart due to its (seemingly) isolating nature.

Are people ready for VR?

Tons of comments were along the lines of “this isn’t the future that I want” or “goodbye girlfriends of the future”. I’m sure most were sarcastic, but I sense that some of them were legitimate concerns or at least signs of uncertainty of VR adoption.

And this was refreshing to hear. I’ve been “immersed”, you could say, in the passion and optimism of VR enthusiasts, so I don’t hear from VR skeptics and non-belieVRs too often.

But as VR creators, it’s incredibly important that we gather perspectives from all sorts of people early on. This includes the people we show VR to, and the people we create VR with. After all, this is a significant part of our future. We should all have some form of input.

While I’m not expecting everyone to happily throw a big ol’ headset on their face, I am aware that not enough people have tried VR and therefore haven’t had the opportunity to explore its potential. From the outside, VR might look silly and isolating, but you really can’t understand it until you experience it yourself.

“Attempting to describe presence is like attempting to describe concepts such as consciousness or the feeling of love.” -Jason Jerald, PhD. Quoted from The VR Book.

Why it’s crucial to highlight the potential of VR right now

We don’t know what’s going to make VR widespread yet. But that’s okay. This kind of medium shouldn’t be rushed just to satisfy business needs.

It’s important to never stop exploring use cases, and the best way to do that is by welcoming in all kinds of expertise into this industry. We have to burst through the tech bubble that seems to grow smaller over time.

Have a VR headset? Go show it to your neighbor, your grandparents, your doctor, your mailman, your therapist. Give them the chance to envision what role VR could play in the future.

Witness people react. Ask them what they think about VR. A lot of them will have a “wow” reaction for the first time, but how can we step beyond that honeymoon phase and tap into their imagination? Do they think VR is useful? Do they already have ideas for industries that could benefit from VR, perhaps ones we have not considered yet?

Don’t have a VR headset? Try searching for VR Meetups or events that are going on in your city. Invite your friends, family, coworkers, neighbors, and the barista at your local coffee shop. The more people we invite early on, the more relatable VR will be in the long run.

And maybe, just maybe, VR won’t be seen as a gimmick that makes “girlfriends” jealous.

The “girlfriends” will be too busy creating virtual worlds and launching the most successful VR companies.