Good VR design will cause users to forget they can teleport away.

People will teleport, to match the speeds they get using search engines. Or to go meet up with friends.

But all VR experiences being separate a la programs launched from an interface is just the start. There’s a big assumption here that somebody somewhere won’t figure out a new 3D interface.

Under the hood, a “metaverse” style interface functions just like Steam, Google, or a Windows Desktop today. But the user experience of the future metaverse is seamless transition between experiences.

Heck, you may be able to purchase your own aesthetic style of “transportation” be it hyperspace, beam me up Scotty, ruby red slippers, or becoming a leaf and floating away.

Sure, most people won’t choose literally to walk around to get from place to place, but the alluring nature of “the metaverse” will create incredible new means of traversing digital space, even if it’s just for show.

I know when I log into RecRoom I usually look at my watch and teleport to my chosen activity. But sometimes, I choose to walk through the public area instead. You just never know who you’re going to meet out there.

Maybe we choose to traverse static 2D interfaces so quickly because of their inefficiency at intriguing the human mind. When we boot up a video game or movie we don’t teleport to the end right away. We let the story play. In well designed VR, every moment is the user’s story.