PlayStation Creator Ken Kutaragi Criticizes The Metaverse And VR Headsets

Ken Kutaragi was recently interviewed by Sony Interactive Entertainment’s former CEO, Sony Interactive Entertainment. BloombergHe also gave his opinions on the metaverse. This nebulous concept of a virtual world has many tech companies involved in an arms race for the first place. While industry giants such as Facebook and Microsoft have visions for what the metaverse can/will be, Kutaragi doesn’t subscribe to the concept.

Kutaragi believes staying rooted in the real world is “very important” and doesn’t understand why someone would want to jack into an artificial reality. “You would rather be a polished avatar instead of your real self? That’s essentially no different from anonymous messageboard sites,” says Kutaragi. 

He’s not a fan of wearing VR headsets to interact with the metaverse either, saying, “Headsets would isolate you from the real world, and I can’t agree with that. Headsets are simply annoying.”

Kutaragi is regarded as the “Father of the PlayStation” as he persuaded Sony to enter the video game market in the early ‘90s and engineered the original PlayStation. Thanks to the console’s massive success, he became CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment America in 1997 and led the development of the PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, and PlayStation 3. Kaz Hirai succeeded Kutaragi as CEO in 2006. He then retired to become an honorary chairman, and later became tech advisor.

The Ascent Robotics Company is currently led by the 71 year old Kutaragi. The company’s goal is to merge the real and digital worlds in a more virtual way. Instead of chasing a wholly artificial world, The Ascent aims to create intelligent robots, built with chips and sensors designed by Kutaragi’s team, that can perform various human tasks and produce a wide range of products. Creating robots that can project digital scenes, such as holograms, is another goal of Kutaragi’s. 

[Source: Bloomberg]