Started Playing VR Games Again

5:45 AM

I started playing VR games again recently. Around 1-2 weeks ago I ordered a new Meta Quest 3S, it arrived a few days ago and I've been playing with it ever since, over an hour a day. It's pretty good exercise depending on what game you play. The only one I am playing so far is Beat Saber. I just download the game, all the songs, and then make my device go offline because it's right up against your head and there's probably some harm from wifi and bluetooth emissions being so close to your brain.

We don't know yet if there's any harm from wifi and bluetooth being up against your head constantly, but it's better to be safe than sorry.

Playing Beat Saber is pretty meditative. It's a rhythm game where you slash these blocks coming at you. I played it for the first time in 2018 in Singapore at a store that had all these different VR experiences. I had my first VR experience in 2016, when someone at the office brought over their computer and HTC Vive headset. At the time it was truly groundbreaking, and I had never experienced anything like it. The immersion felt so realistic. So in 2018 I went to a VR arcade and played Beat Saber for the first time. I still remember the teenagers setting up my headset, they looked so bored, I was the only customer in the entire place.

I actually went to that arcade with my parents, because I wanted them to try out VR. They didn't even want to try it. So I was just there playing Beat Saber, and I was hooked. I played at the beginner level, but I was getting all of the notes, because it's the easiest level, and thought I was so good and impressing the teenagers at the store who were watching my gameplay on a big TV. I really was just a beginner at the time. The game is really easy even in the hardest difficulty, although I can't play every song.

At the highest difficulty, the only way you can play some songs is to deliberately practice it. Play it constantly, in a slower game mode, so that you can memorize all the muscle movement. I did this for some songs, and have since been able to play them, but I don't feel like doing it for any other songs. It is really boring to deliberately practice, but rewarding I guess. I should start deliberately practicing some songs, because it is enjoyable playing them.

Anyway, it snowed massively here in Northern Virginia this weekend. I had to go out and help my dad shovel the snow away from our cars. It took like an hour or two. I would have no problem shoveling snow all day, but the fact is that it's just so windy and cold outside, that doing outdoor chores in the cold feels really uncomfortable. Like if it was just normal spring temperature, and we had to shovel snow, it would have been no problem. Due to the cold and wind, even wearing thick clothing and gloves and snow boots was uncomfortable.

But I do enjoy the snow and winter and the cold. It's not something I experience often since I live in the tropics. This is the first time I have seen a lot of snow like this in years. Most of the time the snow would melt the next day too, but this snow has persisted for several days, meaning it's been constantly cold, which is a good thing. We need some cold to balance against the heat, the world has been getting hotter every year and setting new heat records every year for the pas few decades.

Anyway I have still felt good constantly and euphoric, though now I feel sort of numb emotionally again, though not as numb as on the 19th/20th. I think it's due to the cold weather. They say there are "winter blues" but I am experiencing something more like winter calm. I don't feel bad or sad, like I did on the 19th/20th, I just feel calm, but not happy calmness either.

Things are good. I studied a little the past few days, I have been exercising for an hour or so every day for the past few days. Yeah, things are great.