One of the utopian promises of the internet was that you could reinvent yourself online and be whoever you wanted to be. In VRChat, Lasch is an anime girl with blushing cheeks and long white hair. Born in Germany, Lasch was assigned male at birth, but realized at a young age that they were unrelated to that label. Today, they identify as non-binary and use and those pronouns.
Unsupported by their conservative family, they began experimenting with their gender expression in virtual reality, which helped them build the confidence to start presenting themselves differently in real life. “During hard times, I recreated myself in this game,” they said, “and it helped me find my true self.”
Perhaps the biggest barrier to VRChat becoming more of a mainstream clubbing space is the limitations of VR hardware. The best headsets are still expensive, with many finding them bulky and reporting headaches or nausea. But with continued heavy investment in virtual reality from Meta and Sony, and with Apple working on a headset, the technology should continue to improve and become more accessible.
Since VR technology is relatively new, not much research has been done on the long-term effect of spending large amounts of time in virtual reality. “I spent so much time in VRChat, almost 4000 hours,” Lasch said, “I have dreams that are in VR. Sometimes I spend 12 hours in VR and then when I come out I still see the little stupid microphone symbol in my vision.”
Another obstacle is the fear that virtual reality is a substitute for real reality. But many of its users said VRChat complemented rather than supplanted real life.
This is certainly true of Lincoln Donelan, who hosts parties called Loner both virtually and in his hometown of Melbourne, Australia. I found him in the dingy bathroom of the virtual club one night, talking to a giant fox, some skater girls, and a guy in a tuxedo smoking a cigarette.
