Similar story for me. I think I didn't read it until I was 14 and by that point I had experienced quite a few of the "virtual worlds" including Active Worlds, the good old text BBS games, and research-grade virtual reality caves. Despite all of those experiences the book had a profound effect on my expectations of the future.
To me I saw multi-player FPSs as virtual worlds. Second Life was intriguing when it came along but I couldn't figure out how it deserved the title of Metaverse any more than Ultima Online, or others, did.
The author is right about shared virtual reality. When I dropped the DK1 over my eyes for the first time, something clicked that hadn't happened to me since 1996. The true sensory deprivation of the outside world will make virtual reality meaningful. You will know the other person is there and paying attention, at least until Facebook begins streaming live animated alert notifications.
To me I saw multi-player FPSs as virtual worlds. Second Life was intriguing when it came along but I couldn't figure out how it deserved the title of Metaverse any more than Ultima Online, or others, did.
The author is right about shared virtual reality. When I dropped the DK1 over my eyes for the first time, something clicked that hadn't happened to me since 1996. The true sensory deprivation of the outside world will make virtual reality meaningful. You will know the other person is there and paying attention, at least until Facebook begins streaming live animated alert notifications.