Sony Playstation Inventor Says Metaverse Is Pointless

While leading retail brands ranging from Ralph Lauren to Nike are racing to capture new opportunities in the metaverse, the inventor of Sony Playstation believes investments in the virtual world are pointless.

“Being in the real world is very important, but the metaverse is about making quasi-real in the virtual world, and I can’t see the point of doing it,” said Ken Kutaragi in an interview with Bloomberg.

He also believes that virtual headsets, which have fast gained popularity over the last few years, do not add value to human life as they simply disconnect users from the real world.

“Headsets would isolate you from the real world, and I can’t agree with that,” he said.

“Headsets are simply annoying.”

Kurtagi, the former chairman and CEO of Sony Corp., thinks that technology should be a unifying force that brings together the real and digital world. Engaging in metaverse through VR headsets is thus counterintuitive and defeats the real purpose of technological innovations.

“You would rather be a polished avatar instead of your real self? That’s essentially no different from anonymous message board sites,” Kutaragi added.

Kutaragi launched Sony’s video game division in 1993. He currently works as the CEO of Tokyo-based Ascent Robotics, an AI startup focused on developing software solutions that can help achieve machine autonomy.

Originally published at https://retailbum.com on January 25, 2022.