Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk showed no support for the metaverse and Web 3.0 ecosystems as he dismissed the terms for being used as buzzwords and marketing tactics.
“I don’t see someone strapping a friggin’ screen to their face all day,” said Musk in an interview with The Babylon Bee when asked about his thoughts on the metaverse ecosystem. “I don’t know if I necessarily buy into this metaverse stuff, although people talk to me a lot about it.”
Speaking around metaverse and virtual reality (VR), Musk said that he does not see a future where one would have to leave the physical world to live in a virtual on. Sharing a personal experience, he added that the VR headsets tend to trigger motion sickness while playing video games:
“In the long term, a sophisticated Neuralink could put you fully into virtual reality. I think we’re far from disappearing into the metaverse, this sounds just kind of buzzwordy.”
Musk founded Neuralink, a neurotechnology company that primarily aims to deploy brain implants on humans for restoring and enhancing physical capabilities through computers.
First @Neuralink product will enable someone with paralysis to use a smartphone with their mind faster than someone using thumbs
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 9, 2021
“I’m currently unable to see a compelling metaverse situation or Web 3 sounds like more marketing than reality. I don’t get it, and maybe I will, but I don’t get it yet.”
Musk also highlighted that people will not prefer moving around with VR headsets without wanting to ever leave it. He also recollected being warned growing up about not sitting too close to the TV:
“It’s gonna ruin your eyesight, right? And now we’ve got TV literally right here (on the face). I’m like what? Is that good for you?”
