Let’s be honest here, dating is the worst and it’s already hard enough to go out and meet people in the real world. There’s a reason that so many people have turned to online dating and gaming as ways to meet people rather than trying to find someone at the bar. Technology allows people to easily engage with others and present the version of themselves they most want people to see, whether that lines up with their real-life persona or not. Now that virtual reality is part of the equation, games and social aspects of online life have never been more interactive and the new technology is opening up a whole new world of possibilities for consumers.
Online dating has made it so you never have to leave the house to meet someone, which of course is nothing new as the practice has been going on for years. But what if you didn’t even have to leave the house to go on the date? What if you could go on a virtual date from the comfort of your couch? The BBC reports that the advent of virtual reality could help to make the entire dating process faster, safer, and more convenient while also noting that there will likely be a stigma attached to VR dating, at least in the beginning. Of course, the same stigma used to be attached to online dating.
While not necessarily a gateway to romance, gaming is another way in which gamers are finding new ways to interact with each other. Bars and gaming halls have long been some of the mainstays of available places to meet new people. And as technology continues to expand into the fabric of society, more people are preferring to have their meetings take place online.
The arcade has been dead for years, and the idea of playing games with friends at home as also gone the way of the dodo. And now, the digital realm is coming for more hallmarks of real-life interaction. Bingo parlors have been a fun way to meet and hang out with new people in addition to being a good way to spend a Wednesday night with nothing on TV. But you don’t even have to leave your home to get that experience, as Gala Bingo has brought the bingo hall to the online community. They provide a slew of different games and rooms in which gamers can play and interact with up to hundreds of other people via chat or simple competition. Those that choose to be people-persons on the web aren’t necessarily loners, either. There’s more evidence that online interactions as just as valid and important as connecting with someone in real life.
Social interactions are largely pleasurable because of the hormonal reactions that are spurred by connecting with others, specifically dopamine and oxytocin. And Fortune points out that that these same hormones are stimulated through social networks and gaming, which can help to explain your friend always being on Facebook. The article goes on to point out that gaming and VR in particular offer the most realistic alternatives to in-person interactions because of their level of immersion and suspension of disbelief that help to make our biological reactions all the more visceral.
Soon, having to worry about being that creepy, desperate soul at the bar or club could become a thing of the past. The worlds of gaming, social media, online dating, and virtual reality are colliding to create a new frontier for feelings in the future.
