The Virtual Reality Experience Economy

In my sessions on Human Capacity Optimization, I explore the progression from the Service Economy to-and-through >> the Experience Economy towards >> the Life Transformation Economy. As we continue this progression, we are seeing an interesting iteration of the Experience Economy, the Virtual Reality Experience Economy (VREE).

The VREE is emerging all around us. Here are a few of the sources.

1. Star Trek fans: remember the holodeck? Check out THE VOID . The Void is a new form of immersive entertainment. A combination of a physical set, real-time interactive effects and virtual reality create an immersive “HYPR REALITY”  experience that melds digital and physical worlds together.
2. Are you playing Pokémon Go? This location-based, augmented reality app allows you to turn your smart device into a Pokémon search-and-catch device. Where are these Pokémon? They’re all around you. You have to play it to get it, so I did. It’s the tip of the iceberg when it comes to augmented reality, but it gives you a peek of where things are going.
3. How about some augmented reality and art? In our last “dispatch from the future” we pointed to the use of augmented reality at the Seattle Art Museum to describe what climate change might look like in future Seattle. Just scroll down to the heading: Climate Change and Art
4. For us, this emerging reality came into focus when we first experienced the Oculus Rift, a headset that creates a 360-degree immersion into a virtual world.

These four and more point to the emergence of the Virtual/Augmented Reality Economy.

Processing Questions:

• Are you seeing this emerging reality around you? Where? What are your impressions
• What does this emerging reality say about human development and culture?
• What kinds of futures might this point to?