[GFischer]

I haven't tried Second Life, but most virtual worlds I've seen do not provide the kind of experience I'm hoping for with Oculus Rift (maybe Oculus itself won't be able to either, but I can hope). And Second Life didn't become mainstream enough, and the user interface had a lot of friction.

Virtual worlds/Cyberspace are a very pervasive trope in mainstream culture (see Matrix, etc... down to the latest hits like Ready Player One)

Discoverability in many online stores sucks, and the browser doesn't lend itself to the kind of experience needed - I REALLY hope there can be a better user experience through virtual reality, and that access to an Oculus or similar device will remove friction - it needs to be a pain-free experience.

This thread got me thinking, and I already DO enjoy a kind of virtual experience that is very well suited to the Oculus - Google's Street View and similar. I and my girlfirend both love exploring through Street View. If something like the Street View experience can be replicated for shopping, it might become very popular.

My second thought is that a company that would be well suited to provide the kind of experience needed is Apple :) , but John Carmack and his team have been working very hard to provide an inmersive environment and a good user experience. I'm very excited for this technology.