[codeshaman]

If the experience is so real, will it be possible to fall in love with the VR characters ?

The shit future generations will have to deal with is amazingly complicated, at least that's one of the good parts of getting old(er) and old-school-ish.

[corysama]

The question is not "Can it happen?" The question is "How widespread will it be?" A small percentage of people have already demonstrated falling in love with dating sims, realdolls and anime characters to the point of taking their "waifus" out on physical dates and couples vacations.

My experience in mass-market products has taught me that when you reach a very large number of people, you are going to affect a small number of them much more strongly than you would have ever imagined. When VR goes mass market, it will be a positive force for a huge number of people and a negative one for hopefully a much smaller number. Like cars vs car crashes, we'll have to weigh the benefits based on statistics rather than possibilities.

[comex]

Well, considering the 'waifu' meme... probably. It will be a long time before AI is intelligent enough to be worth falling in love with, though.