Beyond the Virtual, it's Reality!

I travelled to Machu Picchu in Peru last week and danced in a club just a few days ago. How could it happen while working full-time (although it's remote) and living in a highly restricted country due to COVID-19, Germany? Thanks to Mark Zuckerberg, I could travel 6.7 thousand miles away from Berlin with Oculus Quest 2, a reasonably-priced VR goggle; One of the great discoveries through the lockdown boredom. It was worth it!

In my recent LinkedIn poll, I learned that the remote-working environment drove people to be more interested in smart home tech; I will share my Google Nest Hub experience in my next article. Surprisingly, Virtual Reality (VR) and Artificial Reality (AR) showed the same result, yet I will cover my VR experience in this article. (My only AR experience was Pokemon Go)

Beat Saver, a rhythm-based music game with VR technology, was my door opener to the VR industry, yet I'm now fully convinced about its potential after trying out different apps. Here are the stories about the two most compelling experience I've had with my Oculus VR goggle.

• Education and Tourism industry: National Geographic's guided night tour in Machu Picchu, Peru

National Geographic app in Oculus offers a guided tour to Machu Picchu in Peru; Its experience was stunning! I was surprised by how realistic the 3D graphic is; You can see a snapshot in the feature photo of this article.

The personal tour guide asks you to take a photo of the beautiful sceneries here and there. You can also experience how the real Peruvian's daily life would have been, with a real-time simulation bringing you to the 15th century.

The night tour was the most remarkable experience for me. It showed how life at night would have been at Machu Picchu, including star signs in the sky. I couldn't believe how people developed such an organized village at the top of the mountain when there's no handy technology.

This photo shows the night view of Machu Picchu in the 15th century. I could imagine the Peruvian's life in this peaceful little town.

• Entertainment and Social Media industry: Dance Central's social clubbing in 2021 - wherever you are!

2021 is the year of social distancing, yet not in the VR world. The Dance Central app in Oculus offers a virtual clubbing experience wherever you are.

There is a main stage, a VIP lounge, a bar, and a training room. With a virtual mobile phone, you can navigate through different rooms and even take a selfie. I took a selfie of my avatar at the main stage, as you can see below. If you are on Dance Central and run into me, say hi! ;)

Dence Central also offers a social experience. The virtual characters show up to demonstrate the dance moves for you. When the music starts playing, you need to follow the character's movement to get your score. Not only dancing, though, but these characters also continue engaging with you as a friend. As you do more activities like dancing or exchanging messages with each character, it unlocks a different level of experiences within the app. So basically it doesn't make you feel bored even if there is no one you know in this club!

You can also invite your friends or those logged on the app to a dance challenge. By doing so, you could make some new friends within the app.

Although the avatar's natural movement graphic needs to be improved, I could see the massive potential of the virtual market in the entertainment and social media industry using VR technology. So when you try Dance Central, hit me up! (like the in-app characters often say)

I've also experienced apps for riding a roller coaster, travelling in the spaceship, walking in the high building (helping people overcome height phobia) and painting 3D art in my Oculus VR.

Nearly 60 million people use VR today. Its exponential growth in the past few years proves the VR market's potential not only in gaming but also in the education, travel, entertainment and social media industries.

I could imagine an immersive Giorgio Armani fashion show running in VR with a real-time sales experience.

Have you discovered something new during the COVID-19 lockdown time? Please share it in the comment below!