The Future of VR with Second Life and High Fidelity's Philip Rosedale

Today I'm at the headquarters of High Fidelity in San Francisco talking with co-founder and CEO, Philip Rosedale.

Philip and the team at High Fidelity are creating free and open source software that enables real-time, social virtual reality. Some of you may also know Philip as the creator of Second Life, the iconic “internet-scale virtual world.”

In fact, this episode was actually recorded entirely in virtual reality. Philip and I were both wearing headsets in different rooms. You can actually watch a video capture of our 3D VR chat, featuring a slightly awkward-looking avatar of myself.

In this episode we talk about:

• The most advanced uses of VR today, like school kids being able to take a virtual field trip into an Egyptian tomb, and where VR is headed in the future. We discuss what VR might look like 5, 10, and 20 years in the future and which companies are best positioned to take advantage of the shift to VR.
• How widespread adoption of VR will transform our lives, especially when it comes to how we work and go to school. Philip gives the example of kids being able to go to school together with others from the other side of the world and how that will change for the better how we relate to one another.
• We also get into some of the philosophical questions around VR, including how to deal with identity and anonymity in a virtual world and why VR can enable better privacy online.

We also talk about some of Philip's favorite VR applications as well as some of his requests for products in the space.

We’ll be back next week so be sure to subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Breaker, Overcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts. Also, big thanks to our sponsors, GE Ventures, Rally Rd, and AngelList for their support. 😸

Quotes From This Episode

“If I can go to school on a virtual planet where there are kids from all over the whole world, look at the human impact of that versus me going to school with only the kids that are within ten blocks of my house. There’s a homogeneity to local places that is going to get completely turned off with VR.” — Philip

“[In Second Life] people were surprisingly vocal with one identity. I think maybe we only have a certain amount of ability to imagine ourselves as different things and I think there’s a fatigue with really being out there far away from how you imagine yourself.” — Philip

“Virtual worlds are very interesting in that they put a big spotlight on these issues around privacy, anonymity, and freedom of speech. We’re not going to have our real names floating around our heads in VR.” — Philip

Companies and Products Mentioned in This Episode

Facemoji — Emoji your face.

HTC Vive — Discover virtual reality beyond imagination.

Magic Leap — Lightweight wearable that brings dreams to life.

Ubiquity6 — Edit reality together.