I just went on vacation to the beach and the mountains – without leaving my house.
It turns out that vacationing in the Metaverse has its advantages.
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To start, I didn’t need to pack my bags, find my passport, or rush through the airport.
I simply put on Meta Quest 2 – by Mark Zuckerberg The growing popularity of virtual reality metaverse Helmet.
After a few minutes, I installed and downloaded a VR app called Vacation Simulator.
It’s a sequel to the (and surprisingly funny) Job Simulator.
The premise is that we are in a future world where human jobs have been replaced by robots.
So you can use the Job Simulator to experience what it used to be like at work – in the office, as a mechanic, or in the car.
The holiday simulator is the obvious sequel: discover how humans in the past (meaning today) spent their time when they were “not working”.
My vacation began in a hotel, where I was greeted by a floating robot that helped me find my way.
She showed me to the bathroom, where I was able to sort my hair, trim my old beard, and do a faint blonde dye. Adorable stuff.
And then, as if on a real vacation, I went straight to the hotel bed to lie down.
The bed was very spacious and comfortable – probably because I was flat on the floor on the living room rug.
My virtual room had a basketball, so I shot a few rings. Physics are perfect (so I’m naturally a sucker) but I managed to get a little carried away.
Tired of the sportsmanship of my counters, I took virtual juice from my electronic fridge.
It didn’t taste like much (or rather, anything), but the gurgling sounds from the headset faded eerily.
playing games
Then I went to the TV, put a cartridge in the console, grabbed a virtual joystick, and started playing a text adventure game around the holidays.
The irony did not escape me.
I also tried another cartridge that carried a Mario-style side scrolling platform.
For a brief moment while playing on Virtual TV, I actually forgot that none of this was real.
Either way, it was fun — who cares?
That’s when I realized I hadn’t actually left the hotel room. Excuse me!
So I went to the beach, where I lay on the sand a little and read a book about coconuts.
I jumped into the sea for a quick dive and even drowned in my head.
The sound changed and I felt immersed in an underwater world. I even caught a seashell as a souvenir.
Still in my virtual bag, waiting for me in Zuckerberg’s digital world.
I grabbed a sun hat from the beach store because I’m not entirely convinced I can’t get sunburned in VR.
Then I decided it was time for a change of scenery.
The fun never stops…until it stops
The next stop was Hill Island.
It was cooler, so I didn’t plan to stay long, but I managed to find a hot tub.
A robot tells me that I can experience the beautiful panoramic scenery by simply “collecting more souvenirs” – in-game currency – to unlock the area.
Unfortunately, I didn’t feel like working on my vacation, so I went back to the hotel and decided that a day’s leave would be enough.
I was surprised how fun my virtual vacation was.
There is so much to do in this strange meta world that I can’t wait to return to it.
The big advantage is that my virtual vacation was much cheaper than my real vacation.
And it’s a quick way to savor the holidays if you don’t have one in sight.
But really, all my virtual vacation did was make me desperate for more.
The Metaverse probably won’t replace reality after all.
You can buy the Vacation Simulator through the Meta/Oculus Store for £22.99 / $29.99.
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