The parallel worlds of the metaverse are weaving their web and should develop strongly in the years to come.
The association Les Narcotiques Anonymes has just organized a first virtual meeting there in which a dozen of its members were able to participate using a VR headset.
The process, which does not seem technically disturbing, could quickly be developed.
In the metaverse, the bright offices that welcome me look like those of a modern building in a big city.
The appointment was fixed at 7 p.m., I arrive a few minutes before.
Easy, I only had to press a button to be greeted by one of the meeting organizers who invites me to come upstairs.
Upstairs, around a large round table, a dozen people are gathered.
With Raphaël who will animate the discussions are Fred, Lola, Elise…
No one notices my presence.
However, my avatar is visible to everyone.
Using one of my two Touch controllers, I mute my microphone on the interactive menu in front of me.
Equipped like everyone present with an Oculus Quest 2 virtual reality headset on my head that I just had to turn on, I was ready to attend the first meeting of Narcotics Anonymous* (NA) in the metaverse.
In truth, I find myself standing, in my office, in the suburbs of Paris.
Emotions above the participants
“Hello, I have a classic background of someone who gets high.
I no longer had a social life, nor a professional one, nor a love life, nor an affective one, and even less a family one.
I tried several methods, but I got carried away by the NAs.
By mutual aid, this benevolent thing.
I never would have imagined having the life of today.
The meaning that was missing there, I found it here.
As Elise finished her presentation, small “Heart” and “Bravo” emoticons flashed over some of the participants.
who take turns speaking.
"It's super pleasant to feel like in a real meeting," says one of them, between two allusions to his career.
“When I first came here, I expected to meet white, stinking corpses, but I only meet beautiful people here.
I found my place there and there is not a meeting where we do not laugh, ”bids a young woman, standing on the right side of the table.
The session is in full swing.
Beyond Virtual Walls
Always set back, I can move around the room at leisure.
First, by actually walking in the area previously defined in my settings.
This corresponds to the real physical space available in the room – the real one – where I find myself with my virtual reality headset, at home.
That is an area of about two meters by two.
But using the
joystick
of the controller that I hold in my left hand, I can move at will in the visual space where the NA meeting is held.
As if we were present
“I love this meeting, I feel like I'm there.
I know you, I know your voices, ”enthuses Lana, whose avatar reveals that she is a woman of color, who has taken care of her outfit for our meeting.
Our eyes meet and I naturally send him a discreet hello, simply lowering his head.
“This identification, this link, is what is most important to me today”, adds Lana.
Our meeting in the Metaverse is coming to an end.
Beforehand, the members of the NA present perform the reading of the "Just", a ritual recalling a few fundamentals: "Just for today, my thoughts are focused on my recovery (…) Just thanks to NA, I will consider my life under a better day”… The “serenity prayer” and a time of silence close the meeting.
A stronger experience than with Zoom
On the floor below, it's time for discussions.
“During the pandemic, our meetings went digital with Zoom.
This evening's experience allows a stronger presence than being in front of a screen,” says one of the participants.
“With Zoom, we are spectators.
There, we really participate.
And with the headset and the controllers, you can't be absorbed by anything else, ”adds the young woman in red on my left.
“Yes, the commitment is full and complete.
The glasses on the eyes allow a stronger concentration ”, continues a participant.
In the metaverse, you don't need to raise your hand to speak.
The discussion is natural, just like in real life.
The microphone and earphones of our helmet were immediately forgotten.
We hear and speak to each other normally.
"It all feels a little weird, but once you put aside the techno aspect, you feel the sharing," says a young man at the other end of this room.
“Me, honestly, I had the impression of being in a classic meeting”, we also hear.
"Personally, I still need to move around, otherwise I can easily want to go back to my cave", tempers a member of the NA...
free speech
I question the participants at random about the capacity of the metaverse to possibly free their speech.
“This first operation was extremely well received.
With the virtual, we can respect the anonymity which can be a brake in a real meeting.
This can undoubtedly help newcomers who would not dare to confide in immediately, ”explains Raphaël, who led the meeting.
“Yes, but it's hard to imagine a drug addict spending money to equip himself with a helmet like this.
We can hope that this type of equipment will become more and more affordable,” adds his neighbour.
“This can bring in
gamers
who are already equipped,” we suggest further.
Organized with the technical support of the VR-Academy (an agency specializing in immersive realities), will this meeting in the metaverse of Narcotics Anonymous be followed by others?
“It's a first experience.
It is convincing, effective.
It will become a subject, ”says Raphaël.
“Me, I was happy to be able to communicate with a journalist in these conditions, concludes a participant, turning to me.
When we meet your TV colleagues, we then find ourselves with blurred faces, as if we were terrorists”.
*Existing in France since 1983, Narcotics Anonymous organizes 250 weekly meetings, 50% of which are in Paris.
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