METAVERSE IN SPOTLIGHT AT MWC TECH FAIR EVEN AS DOUBTS ARISE

Welcome to the metaverse — sort of.

I climbed into the front seat of the air taxi, buckled the seat belt and braced as the aircraft lifted off. The futuristic cityscape of Busan, South Korea, dropped away, and a digital avatar popped up on the windscreen with a message.

I couldn’t answer as a wave of motion sickness hit me. The virtual reality goggles combined with motion-simulating seats pitching back and forth and side to side made it feel like I was actually hovering and maneuvering in the air. They also made me so nauseous I had to close my eyes for the rest of the three-minute journey.

South Korean company SK Telecom’s air taxi mockup was one of the eye-catching demonstrations at MWC, or Mobile World Congress, the world’s biggest telecom industry trade show. Tech companies and wireless carriers at this week’s expo in Barcelona displayed advancements to connect people and businesses online, increasingly in new virtual reality worlds dubbed the metaverse.

Visitor Mark Varahona also felt woozy after trying the flight experience but is still considering buying a virtual reality headset, the hardware needed to enter any immersive digital universe.

“I was thinking to buy it before coming here. And maybe now I will buy them,” he said. “They look quite nice.”

The metaverse exploded in popularity after Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg in late 2021 pronounced it the next big thing for the internet, renaming his social media empire and socking tens of billions into the idea.

He portrayed it as 3D community where people can meet, work and play — doing everything from trying on digital clothes, holding a virtual meeting or taking a trip online.