:00:00. > :00:28.Hello, and welcome to a very unusual Click.
:00:29. > :00:31.It is unusual because we have been asked to make a documentary by the
:00:32. > :00:36.BBC all about virtual reality and the effects it might one day have on
:00:37. > :00:44.Some of the stuff that is to do with VR and relationships is most
:00:45. > :00:47.definitely adults-only, but don't panic - today we will bring you
:00:48. > :00:53.the toned-down version of that documentary for family viewing.
:00:54. > :00:56.We were lucky enough to recruit Tyger Drew-Honey to report for us
:00:57. > :01:01.from some of the stranger corners of the web, and VR prototyping.
:01:02. > :01:04.So for the next 23 minutes, I will leave you
:01:05. > :01:16.Everybody wants in on virtual reality, it seems.
:01:17. > :01:19.Video games in VR are supposed be much more immersive.
:01:20. > :01:21.There are plans for social networking and hanging
:01:22. > :01:27.The technology even has romantic potential, becoming a new way
:01:28. > :01:33.for people on opposite sides of the planet to get together online.
:01:34. > :01:37.I have heard a lot about VR, but I've never tried it.
:01:38. > :01:41.I have come to St Albans and found a VR Boot Camp,
:01:42. > :01:50.Hello. Hi there!
:01:51. > :01:53.I'm Tyger. Nice to meet you, man.
:01:54. > :01:56.I run a small company called Rewind, which is a VR production studio, and
:01:57. > :02:00.we will run you through your paces and show you the technology we have.
:02:01. > :02:04.This is not something I have done much of.
:02:05. > :02:08.I've used one of these with my phone.
:02:09. > :02:13.All of these are basically smartphone
:02:14. > :02:18.The really good stuff is when you start getting into the good ones.
:02:19. > :02:21.Let's get you down here and have a go.
:02:22. > :02:27.Can you reach down and touch the dashboard?
:02:28. > :02:34.Wow! And you're off!
:02:35. > :02:48.My stomach went a little bit like I went over a big bump in the road.
:02:49. > :02:50.Is it just my imagination or is anything moving?
:02:51. > :02:53.Could it be a winning lap? It is!
:02:54. > :03:08.The headset is covered in a whole bunch of tiny sensors.
:03:09. > :03:12.The sensors are constantly being wiped by a laser.
:03:13. > :03:15.You can walk anywhere within this universe.
:03:16. > :03:19.You can't see me? No.
:03:20. > :03:27.That in itself is incredibly powerful.
:03:28. > :03:30.You didn't have to learn where they were, they physically were
:03:31. > :03:38.If you sit down on the floor and make a balloon...
:03:39. > :03:48.I feel like I am in a PlayStation game.
:03:49. > :03:58.No. I think you're done.
:03:59. > :04:00.What's it like coming back into the real world?
:04:01. > :04:05.You don't have to worry in that world.
:04:06. > :04:11.I wanted to stay there because everything was fine and fun.
:04:12. > :04:13.When virtual reality does take off, do you think there may become
:04:14. > :04:16.this generation of people who have no involvement
:04:17. > :04:21.I don't think this will ever replace the real world, but for some people,
:04:22. > :04:33.it will give them a version of the world they will enjoy more.
:04:34. > :04:35.Virtual reality certainly turns this Minecraft-style game into
:04:36. > :04:36.a super immersive block-building pastime.
:04:37. > :04:39.But will people really be able to do more than play turbocharged
:04:40. > :04:44.Facebook coughed up $2 billion in 2014 for VR headset outfit
:04:45. > :04:47.Oculus Rift, so Mark Zuckerberg and his crew must think VR has
:04:48. > :04:54.At the recent Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, he revealed the social
:04:55. > :04:58.network have set up a special virtual reality team to explore
:04:59. > :05:05.Today, thanks to this partnership between Samsung and Facebook,
:05:06. > :05:11.But what will social virtual reality look like, and what
:05:12. > :05:17.Some VR experts believe we might use avatars to interact
:05:18. > :05:23.Online worlds making use of avatars will allow people to
:05:24. > :05:27.interact with one another are nothing new.
:05:28. > :05:30.Sites like Second Life have been doing that for years.
:05:31. > :05:33.But a new breed of these virtual worlds has cropped up online.
:05:34. > :05:35.These are strictly adults-only sites, and are concerned with
:05:36. > :05:39.allowing people to engage in romantic relationships, virtually of
:05:40. > :05:54.But can people really meet and forge a lasting relationship
:05:55. > :05:56.in virtual worlds like the one I've just seen?
:05:57. > :06:02.To find out, I will have to travel to New York.
:06:03. > :06:14.GPS: In 1000 feet, your destination will be on the right.
:06:15. > :06:17.I'm told this is where I will find a couple who met via
:06:18. > :06:21.an adults-only online world called Otherverse.
:06:22. > :06:27.I'm very good. Nice to meet you.
:06:28. > :06:28.Devon. Tyger.
:06:29. > :06:30.We're married, and we met eight years ago.
:06:31. > :06:39.Devon had three children, and we merged our families together
:06:40. > :06:45.We met online, and it was a virtual world.
:06:46. > :06:48.So how come you guys were in this world?
:06:49. > :06:50.I was originally in there because a friend
:06:51. > :06:54.It was something I had never seen before.
:06:55. > :06:57.So I was torn between it being kind of sad and pathetic,
:06:58. > :07:05.maybe a little bit creepy, or it being completely genius.
:07:06. > :07:09.and what made you think it was genius?
:07:10. > :07:12.When I went in, I was myself because I didn't know
:07:13. > :07:15.I learned very quickly that people, when they get
:07:16. > :07:20.behind a computer screen, they can be anybody they want to be.
:07:21. > :07:23.The genius part was it allowed people to come in and experience
:07:24. > :07:28.life in a way they maybe wouldn't be able to otherwise.
:07:29. > :07:36.You said you went into it quite naively.
:07:37. > :07:39.Did you always trust people were who they said they were?
:07:40. > :07:43.There was one person who made friends with the entire community,
:07:44. > :07:46.and then became very sick and he died, and everybody was
:07:47. > :07:55.I found out later he didn't actually die.
:07:56. > :07:57.He faked his death, came back as a different character
:07:58. > :08:14.People faked brain tumours, and faked full personas.
:08:15. > :08:17.Do you think there is a danger of people becoming so addicted to
:08:18. > :08:20.the escapism that they could disregard their actual life?
:08:21. > :08:24.I came across many people for whom the virtual world WAS their life.
:08:25. > :08:30.I do believe people lose their real selves when they enter a virtual
:08:31. > :08:32.world, because maybe they have created an
:08:33. > :08:41.environment that they feel is better then what their real life was.
:08:42. > :08:43.When was the last time you used the game?
:08:44. > :08:49.Once I got her here, I didn't want to go back in anymore.
:08:50. > :08:52.When you live on the computer screen for years
:08:53. > :08:56.in a long-distance relationship, when it is finally done,
:08:57. > :09:07.So, it's off to Vancouver, in Canada,
:09:08. > :09:11.to the home of the Otherverse in its head office to find out
:09:12. > :09:14.how virtual worlds and virtual realities could come together.
:09:15. > :09:18.I guess this place is kind of like the nerve centre of the
:09:19. > :09:27.I've used a couple of virtual worlds now, and I've used
:09:28. > :09:31.a couple of virtual realities, but I haven't used them together.
:09:32. > :09:35.So I'm really interested to see if that's going to make it more
:09:36. > :09:40.I think you will find it is really a neat experience.
:09:41. > :09:44.So much different than just playing in virtual worlds
:09:45. > :09:59.Where's the line with it being cheating?
:10:00. > :10:02.I always say that's a matter to be determined between
:10:03. > :10:07.If I'm involved in a VR thing, and if we decide that's cheating,
:10:08. > :10:12.If you decide, "we should be allowed to experiment with that",
:10:13. > :10:22.If people could just have virtual relationships,
:10:23. > :10:26.why would anyone want to bother with arguments that you have with your
:10:27. > :10:29.girlfriend and the potential that they might go and cheat on you?
:10:30. > :10:33.I look at social media and this concept of online personality
:10:34. > :10:36.disorder, where a you're detached from really relating with people.
:10:37. > :10:42.You get that little bit of anger and you can rage at people
:10:43. > :10:46.Most people don't really want to be that way, they aren't that way
:10:47. > :10:48.when they're interrelating with people in the real world.
:10:49. > :10:52.Virtual reality has the potential to bring humanity much closer together.
:10:53. > :10:57.Choose our friends, people will choose to be different ethnicities,
:10:58. > :11:00.they will choose whatever suits them at the time and they will make
:11:01. > :11:11.friends with people from different cultures and different ways of life.
:11:12. > :11:14.At the very least, virtual reality social networks are on the way.
:11:15. > :11:16.Perhaps in the not too distant future, instead of staring
:11:17. > :11:20.at our smartphones all the time, we'll all be strapping on VR goggles
:11:21. > :11:36.That is it for this week. Follow us on Twitter and check out our website
:11:37. > :11:39.for more technology news throughout the week. Thank you for watching,
:11:40. > :12:02.and we will see you seen. -- soon. Hello and welcome to Newswatch
:12:03. > :12:12.with me, Samira Ahmed. Awards were being given out in
:12:13. > :12:14.Hollywood on Sunday night, but