my introduction into Virtual Reality started off as a joke. myself and some friends i had in college visited public instances of VRChat. it was mostly us laughing at the absurdity of it at the time. now, several years into my VR journey, i have met so many people who are deeply important to me along with a bucket load of amazing experiences that i could never have had anywhere else. it was a crucial component of my life during the pandemic, as it made socializing with people and cultivating community so much easier as countries all over the world called for shutdowns and social distancing.

while VR is very much one of my main hobbies, it is a hobby that i do not easily recommend to people due to its steep initial investments - specifically with how expensive the hardware costs can be.

first of all, you need a VERY good desktop computer. when i say that, i mean you'll want a lot of processing power, as much VRAM as possible - you'll essentially want to be able to fully render these virtual environments. when i get into vrchat, i am putting on a headset, two controllers, and five body trackers (all with small battery packs) just to see myself and my avatar move properly.

in VR, you can express yourself thru your avatars or thru content like worlds for other users to experience. so while the initial investment for this hobby is quite high, the things you can experience - for FREE usually as well - are so worth it. this hobby has given me a better outlook on life, has made me more creative and expressive in general, blessed me with really good friends, and i look forward to the days more than i dread them.