1 SPEAKER_01: This is the BBC.

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download from BBC Learning English. To find out more, visit our website.
3 SPEAKER_00: 6 minutes English. From BBC Learning English.
4 SPEAKER_03: Hello, this is 6 minutes English from BBC Learning English. I'm Sam. And
I'm Neil. On Saturday mornings I love going to watch football in the park. The
problem is when it's cold and rainy, I look out the bedroom window and go straight
back to bed.
5 SPEAKER_01: Well, instead of going to the park, why not bring the park to you?
Imagine watching a live version of the football match at home in the warm with
friends. Sound good, Sam?
6 SPEAKER_03: Sounds great. But how can I be in two places at once? Is there some
amazing invention to do that? There might be, Sam.
7 SPEAKER_01: And it could be happening sooner than you think. Thanks to developments
in VR or virtual reality. According to Facebook, boss Mark Zuckerberg, in the future,
will all spend much of our time living and working in the Metaverse. A series of
virtual worlds.
8 SPEAKER_03: Virtual reality is a topic we've discussed before in 6 minutes English.
But when Facebook announced that it was hiring 10,000 new workers to develop VR for
the Metaverse, we thought it was time for another look.
9 SPEAKER_01: In this program, we'll be hearing two different opinions on the
Metaverse and how it might shape the future.
10 SPEAKER_03: But first, I have a question for you, Neil. According to a 2021 survey
by gaming company Thrive Analytics, what percentage of people who try virtual reality
once want to try it again? Is it A, 9% B, 49% or C, 79%?
11 SPEAKER_01: I guess with VR you either love it or hate it. So I'll say B, 49% of
people want to try it again.
12 SPEAKER_03: Okay, I'll reveal the correct answer later in the program. But what Neil
said is true, people tend to either love virtual reality or hate it. Somebody who
loves it is Emma Riddestad, CEO of Warpon, a company which develops VR technology.
13 SPEAKER_01: Here she is telling BBC World Service Program Tech tent her vision of
the future.
14 SPEAKER_00: In 10 years, everything that you do on your phone today, you will do in
3D, through your glasses, for example. You will be able to do your shopping, you will
be able to meet your friends, you will be able to work remotely with whomever you
want. You will be able to share digital spaces, share music, share art, share
projects in digital spaces between each other. And you will also be able to integrate
the digital objects in your physical world, making the world much more fidget than it
is today.
15 SPEAKER_03: Virtual reality creates 3D or three-dimensional experiences where
objects have the three dimensions of length, width and height. This makes them look
life-like and solid, not two-dimensional and flat.
16 SPEAKER_01: Emma says that in the future, VR will mix digital objects and physical
objects to create exciting new experiences, like staying at home to watch the same
football match that is simultaneously happening in the park. She blends the words
physical and digital to make a new word describing this combination. Digital.
17 SPEAKER_03: But while a digital future sounds like paradise to some, others are more
sceptical. They doubt that VR will come true or be useful.
18 SPEAKER_01: One such skeptic is technology innovator Dr. Nicola Millard. For one
thing, she doesn't like wearing a VR headset, the heavy helmet and glasses that
create virtual reality for the wearer. Some things she explained to the BBC World
Services Tech Tint.
19 SPEAKER_02: There are some basic things that we need to think about. So how do we
access it? So the reason that sort of social networks took off was, you know, we've
got mobile technologies that let us use it. Now, obviously one of the barriers can be
VR or AR headsets. So VR, I've always been slightly skeptical about. I've called it
Vomit-y reality for a while because, frankly, I usually need a bucket somewhere close
if you've got a headset on me. And also, do I want to spend vast amounts of time in
those rather unwieldy headsets? Now, I know they're talking AR as well, and obviously
that doesn't necessarily need a headset. But I think that we're seeing some quite
immersive environments coming out at the moment as well.
20 SPEAKER_03: Nicola called VR Vomit-y reality because wearing a headset makes her
feel sick. Maybe because it's so unwieldy, difficult to move or wear because it's big
and heavy.
21 SPEAKER_01: She also makes a distinction between VR, virtual reality, and AR, which
stands for Augmented Reality. Tech, which adds to the ordinary physical world by
projecting virtual words, pictures and characters, usually by wearing glasses or with
a mobile phone.
22 SPEAKER_03: While virtual reality replaces what you hear and see, Augmented Reality
adds to it. Both VR and AR are immersive experiences. They stimulate your senses and
surround you so that you feel completely involved in the experience.
23 SPEAKER_01: In fact, the experience feels so real that people keep coming back for
more.
24 SPEAKER_03: Right, so in my question, I asked Neil how many people who try VR for
the first time want to try it again.
25 SPEAKER_01: I guessed it was about half, 49%.
26 SPEAKER_03: Was I right? You were wrong, I'm afraid. The correct answer is much
higher. 79% of people would give VR another try. I suppose because the experience was
so immersive, stimulating, surrounding and realistic.
27 SPEAKER_01: Okay Sam, let's recap the other vocabulary from this program on the
metaverse. A kind of Augmented Reality. Reality which is enhanced or added to by
technology.
28 SPEAKER_03: 3D objects have three dimensions, making them appear real and solid.
29 SPEAKER_01: Figital is an invented word which combines the features of physical and
digital worlds.
30 SPEAKER_03: A skeptical person is doubtful about something.
31 SPEAKER_01: And finally, unwieldy means difficult to move or carry because it's so
big and heavy.
32 SPEAKER_03: That's our 6 minutes up in this reality anyway. See you in the metaverse
soon.
33 SPEAKER_00: Goodbye.
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