I can't help but think of how this cash could have been spent on something that benefited everyone (in the dire covid/postcovid years no less) rather than the world's most expensive trial on whether people would rather meet in a MMO world than with their web cameras in a meeting app.
Makes Star Citizen's $0.7B crowdfunding look cheap.
Imagine if people in the 1940s/50s said, "wow we could have spent all this money on something besides these giant vacuum tube machines that just add up a few numbers."
For instance, just imagine wearing a set of AR goggles while <working on your car/building some furniture/whatever> and having an exploded parts diagram available at your beck and call in relation to the physical item in front of you, with assembly/disassembly steps shown should you so desire.
I can think of dozens of real world applications off the top of my head. AR assistance for challenging professional situations (surgery, mechanical repairs, etc), PTSD treatment, AR warfare, gaming, and so much more. And this is with our limited viewpoint in the year 2024.
When headsets (or the evolution of them) are eventually the size of reading glasses and cost very little, this could change the world.
I don't "believe" there is a solution until enough people get really hungry.
Although I do agree with your general sentiment.
I also how simple we like to make the argument. How we could have instead spent money that “benefited everyone”. Who decides that? I don’t think governments, nonprofits, or other gatherings of people do a better job and probably are actually much worse at it.
Now there are data centers full of them.
It's the dirtiest kind of money.
Solve the management boogie man of remote collaboration, unlock Billions in value by making remote workforces more collaborative.
Hell, would that also have downstream affects of reducing housing demand in HCOL areas and alleviating homelessness…maybe!?