Hanging out with friends in chatrooms is one of the most established uses of the internet that many of us love. Whether looking at the ICQ groups of the old days or Discord video chats today, spending time together over the internet has been one of the best ways we’ve explored the potential of online technology.
What we’ve yet to see, despite the decades of promise, is a virtual reality system that offers the same kind of support. Though systems like VR Chat have laid the groundwork, there have still yet to be any serious adult-centric VR chat systems, at least until now. Enter Meta’s Hyperscape, a system aiming to let you chill with friends in your own virtual home, no matter where in the world you and your friends find yourselves.
What is the Hyperscape?
Hyperscape is made of two main systems, the first of which has already existed for some time. This is the scanning and capture ability, which uses the cameras on the Quest 3 headsets to scan and process a room. This is then turned into a 3D model, which can be explored as a virtualised space.
The new system from Hyperscape is the ability to invite up to eight others into this room, with the potential for even larger groups in the future. Each person then takes the shoes of their avatar, free to navigate the space, explore, and find the position where they’re the most comfortable.
So, What Could You Do?
At this point in time, Hyperscape tech is still limited, though it does offer immense potential that the company is beginning to explore. Right now, the most relevant aspects are just hanging out with your friends, which for many of us is reason enough to use the program. The system has also made some headway in offering scans of other environments to explore. These include Gordon Ramsay’s home kitchen, the Octagon fighting arena in Las Vegas, and more.
What’s more important is how flexible the system is and how it could grow in the future. Right now, a big benefit comes from how easy it is to open a browser within Hyperscape, to load apps and services. This means people could even play app games, or even host themed game nights, despite being miles apart. For example, you could load the best bingo app on Hyperscape, with games like Big Money Live or Flash Bingo, or host a themed-casino night, and play together with your friends from a world away, and this is just the start for the technology.
In the future, it’s entirely possible for Meta to build an array of games directly into a virtual space. This could let you play virtual cards, darts, chess, or more active video games, where the setting is your home. It seems a slam dunk, and it’s impossible that some of Meta’s engineers don’t have similar ideas.
Source: Pixabay
With billions already invested in VR technology, this direction is not one that Meta is backing away from. They’ll continue to explore and expand, and Hyperscape is just one example of this process. If you have friends or family far away you’d like to connect to, so you can visit each other in your homes or your favourite places, keep this tech in mind, and you might find a way to reconnect that’s too important to ignore.