Is this the real life, is this just fantasy?
Freddie Mercury had sung these words all the way back in 1975, but Bohemian Rhapsody would’ve made for an appropriate background score for Facebook’s latest event, in which founder Mark Zuckerberg gave the world a peek into what the future of human interaction might look like.
And what a glimpse it was. In a breathtaking demo that was part performance art, part tech wizardry, Zuckerberg transported himself into a world where he transformed into a smiling avataar (who looked like a young Justin Timberlake, he observed). As the real Zuckerberg stood on stage, incongruously wearing his Oculus headset, his avataar interacted with its virtual companions – two Facebook employees. As the three laughed and joked, they were able to switch locations at will – one moment they were swimming with sharks, the next they were roaming around on Mars.
This is all pretty standard VR fare, but then Zuck took it up a notch. Within his VR world, he had a Facebook video chat with wife Priscilla, who appeared as herself. So the real Mark Zuckerberg had created a virtual world, into which he was interacting with his very real wife, in real time.
Sounds familiar?
And if that wasn’t enough, the virtual Zuck posed for a selfie that featured himself and his real wife. Once it was taken, it was instantly posted to the real Zuck’s Facebook account.
Our head hurts.
Here’s the entire video.
“Caught in a landslide, no escape from reality,” Mercury had despaired back then. He had no idea how right he was going to be.