Metaverse has quickly become one of the hottest topics these days, especially after the social media giant Facebook announced Meta and the future of the virtual world. Though it is now the mainstream, Ken Kutaragi showed no interest in this field.
In a recent interview with Bloomberg, Ken Kutaragi said that he’s not too big on the idea of virtual reality or digital worlds that companies like Facebook are proposing. For him, Metaverse has the function of division instead of unity.
“Being in the real world is very important, but the Metaverse is about making quasi-real in the virtual world, and I can’t see the point of doing it,” Kutaragi responded to Bloomberg. “You would rather be a polished avatar instead of your real self? That’s essentially no different from anonymous messageboard sites.”
Besides, Ken Kutaragi is also not fond of virtual reality (VR) glasses to interact in the virtual world. He thinks VR will isolate us from reality and he couldn’t agree with this.
“Headsets would isolate you from the real world, and I can’t agree with that,” Kutaragi continued with Bloomberg. “Headsets are simply annoying.”
Kutaragi is considered to be the one who laid the groundwork for PlayStation when he persuaded Sony to enter the video game market in early 90s. He became CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment in 1997 and set for the blossoming of PlayStation consoles. In 2006, he retired, then served as chairman emeritus and later becoming a technology consultant. These days, he’s working at Ascent Robotics in Tokyo, Japan.
In contrast with Kutaragi’s opinions, the world’s largest crypto fund Grayscale has a positive view over Metaverse. Recently, Grayscale envisioned that the virtual market will be valued at over $1 trillion in the next few years.
The crypto fund has outlined that Metaverse’s potentials are not only tied with gaming sector. Advertising, digital events, social commerce, and monetizing from developers/creators are all aspects that Metaverse can integrate.