More Useful Virtual Realities

These kinds of developments made me think of virtual worlds, which also attempted to set up alternate worlds you could experience.   So they are necessarily not only games, but places you can meet or even just hang out.  And they need to be better than a very good video conference room.    And you can then ask:  how do they need to be better?   By including a manipulable co-reality? By allowing new kinds of interactions?    Still unconvinced of easy business value.  Social value is more adaptive.

Oculus just made Gear VR way more social with voice chat and virtual living rooms
A new way to hang out with friends in VR    by Nick Statt

Oculus wants people to think of virtual reality as more than a solitary, gaming-centric experience. To that effect, the company today is launching two new features for the Samsung Gear VR headset that it hopes will encourage users to interact with one another in a virtual hangout. The first is called Parties, and it’s a simple chat system — much like game chat for PlayStation or Xbox — that lets you jump into a voice call and talk with others while wearing the headset. The second feature is called Rooms, and it’s an entirely new way of interacting with others in VR.  ... "