Welcome to the 'metaverse' - 6 Minute English

Hello, this is 6 Minute English

from BBC Learning English. I'm Sam.

And I'm Neil.

On Saturday mornings, I love going to watch football in the park.

The problem is when it's cold and rainy,

I look out the bedroom window and go straight back to bed.

Well, instead of going to the park,

why not bring the park to you? Imagine watching a live version

of the football match at home in the warm with friends. Sound good, Sam?

Sounds great.

but how can I be in two places at once?

Is there some amazing invention to do that?

There might be, Sam - and it could be happening sooner than you think.

Thanks to developments in VR, or virtual reality.

According to Facebook boss, Mark Zuckerberg, in the future

we'll all spend much of our time living and working in the metaverse -

a series of virtual worlds.

Virtual reality is a topic

we've discussed before in 6 Minute English.

But when Facebook announced that

it was hiring 10,000 new workers to develop VR for the metaverse,

we thought it was time for another look.

In this programme, we'll be hearing two different opinions on the metaverse

and how it might shape the future.

But first,

I have a question for you, Neil.

According to a 2021 survey by gaming company Thrive Analytics,

what percentage of people who try virtual reality once,

want to try this again?

Is it a) 9 percent,

b) 49 percent or c) 79 percent?

I guess with VR

you either love it or hate it,

so I'll say b) 49 percent of people want to try it again.

OK, I'll reveal the correct answer later in the programme.

But what Neil said is true -

people tend to either love virtual reality or hate it.

Somebody who loves it is Emma Ridderstad, CEO of Warpin,

a company which develops VR technology.

Here she is telling BBC World Service programme, Tech Tent,

her vision of the future.

In 10 years, everything that you do on your phone today

you will do in 3-D through your glasses, for example.

You will be able to do your shopping and

you will be able to meet your friends, you will be able to work remotely,

with whom you want. You will be able to share digital spaces,

share music,

share art, share projects in digital spaces between each other.

And you will also be able to integrate the digital objects

in your physical world, making the world

much more phygital than it is today.

Virtual reality create 3-D - or three-dimensional experiences

where objects have the three dimensions of length, width and height.

This makes them look lifelike and solid,

not two-dimensional and flat. Emma says that in the future,

VR will mix digital objects and physical objects to create exciting

new experiences, like staying at home to watch the same football match

that is simultaneously happening in the park.

She blends the words, physical and digital

to make a new word describing this combination - 'phygital'.

But while a phygital future

sounds like paradise to some, others are more sceptical -

they doubt that VR will come true or be useful.

One such sceptic is technology innovator, Doctor Nicola Millard.

For one thing

she doesn't like wearing a VR headset,

the heavy helmet and glasses that create virtual reality for the wearer.

Something she explained to the BBC World Service's Tech Tent.

There are some basic things that we need to think about -

so how do we access it?

So, the reason that sort of social networks took off was

we've got mobile technologies that

let us use it.

Now, obviously

one of the barriers can be the VR or AR headsets.

So VR, I've always been slightly sceptical about. I've called it

'vomity reality' for a while because, frankly,

I usually need a bucket somewhere close,

if you've got a headset on me

and also, do I want to spend vast amounts of time in those

rather unwieldy headsets?

Now, I know they're talking

AR as well, and obviously that does

not necessarily need a headset

but I think we're seeing some quite immersive environments coming out

at the moment as well.

Nicola called VR 'vomity reality'

because wearing a headset makes her feel sick.

Maybe because it's so unwieldy -

difficult to move or wear, because it's big and heavy.

She also makes a distinction between VR - virtual reality - and AR which stands

for 'augmented reality' - tech which adds to the ordinary physical world

by projecting virtual words, pictures and characters,

usually by wearing glasses or with a mobile phone.

While virtual reality replaces what you hear and see, augmented reality adds to it.

Both the VR and AR are immersive experiences.

They stimulate your senses and surround you

so that you feel completely involved in the experience.

In fact, the experience feels so real that people keep coming back for more.

Right. So, in my question

I asked Neil,

how many people who try VR for the first time, want to try it again?

I guessed it was about half,

49 percent. Was I right?

You're wrong, I'm afraid.

The correct answer is much higher:

79 percent of people would give VR another try.

I suppose because the experience was so immersive - stimulating, surrounding and realistic.

OK, Sam, let's recap the other vocabulary

from this programme on the 'metaverse', a kind of augmented reality -

reality, which is enhanced or added to by technology.

The 3-D objects have three dimensions, making them appear real and solid.

'Phygital' is an invented word  

which combines the features of physical and digital worlds

A sceptical person is doubtful about something.

And finally 'unwieldy' means difficult to move or carry because it's so big and heavy.

That's our 6 minutes up in this reality, anyway.

See you in the metaverse soon.

Goodbye.