The name Ken Kutaragi is important to video game history: he founded Sony’s game division in 1993 and led the creation of the first PlayStation console. He’s since left Sony, and he doesn’t approve of its recent ventures into virtual reality.
Speaking to Bloomberg, Kutaragi explained that he believes virtual reality and the metaverse lead to division. “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,” he said. “Headsets would isolate you from the real world, and I can’t agree with that.” Don’t expect to see Kutaragi sitting in a meeting in Facebook’s metaverse anytime soon.
That’s not to say that he doesn’t see a future that fuses technology with human interaction, however. He is currently the CEO of Ascent Robotics, Inc., a company focused on artificial intelligence. Ascent’s goal is to create devices that “help transform real-world objects into computer-readable data,” according to Bloomberg. Kutaragi’s point about how VR separates you from the “real world” still stands, though. His current work is about accentuating the real world with AI technology, not stepping into a virtual world that’s distinctly different from our own.
Of course, current-day PlayStation is still very much on the VR path. The PlayStation VR 2 was officially named at the start of the year, and the new headset will incorporate new features like eye tracking and haptic feedback. Horizon Call of the Mountain was also announced alongside the new headset. It’s set in the same world as Zero Dawn and Forbidden West, but it’ll star a different lead character from Aloy.
