The VR headset you’ll never want to take off

Come with me, friends, on a little foray into the future. You need to buckle up because the Metaverse has arrived.

‘The what?’ you ask. The Metaverse. 

It is, in essence, a virtual world accessed through a virtual reality headset. Slipping on the goggles, you are transported into digital spaces where you can socialise with other users, hold meetings, play games, get fit and shop. Barbados has even announced that it will be the first sovereign nation to open a virtual embassy.

Meta (formerly Facebook) is leading the charge with its Quest 2 headset providing users with a portal into the Metaverse. 

It’s not unlike any gaming console in that you digitally download games to play alone, with friends or with strangers around the world. Some, such as Rec Room and Horizon Worlds, are free to download and have mini games and social areas for you to explore, while others, such as Beat Saber, can be downloaded through the Meta Quest app on your smartphone (although it currently comes included with the Meta Quest 2 at John Lewis). As well as the headset you get two Intuitive Touch controllers (one for each hand), allowing your movements to be recorded in real time – meaning you can see and interact with everything in three dimensions.

Let me begin by telling you what a piece of cake it is to set up and use. Simply register with the app on your phone and once you’ve got the headset on, you’re off to the races with a heads-up display that allows you to load games you already own, browse the store for new ones and attend live events (such as conferences and gigs – Lil Nas X, Charli XCX, BTS and Justin Bieber have already hosted digital live performances).

Before each session, the headset maps the space around you (called Roomscale) so you won’t be crashing into things as you play or watch, although you can play many games sitting down anyway.

The aforementioned Beat Saber is insanely fun. With two virtual ‘lightsabers’, you play a series of levels where you slash at coloured boxes that fly towards you, as you attempt to strike to the beat as high energy music (including songs by The Weeknd) plays. Everyone in the family will quickly grasp how it works. What’s great is, unlike most gaming devices, this is super active, so you burn calories while you play.

For spacey escapism, I loved the glitzy Red Matter 2, where you play as Sasha, someone who’s woken up on a Soviet base in the far reaches of space and has to use logic and skill to retrieve the ‘red matter’ and get home. As an immersive experience, it’s unparalleled. I spent ages just gazing around each location, although, unlike any of the other games I played, this one made me a little motion sick.

For sports fans there’s the American football-inspired NFL Pro Era that has all of the fun but none of the bruising impact of the real game, or my favourite, Racket NX, a kind of tennis that is utterly addictive and satisfying to play as you smash away targets inside a panelled dome.

But what I was really sold on was Les Mills Body Combat. Inside a virtual dojo, you get walked through all the stances and strikes you need before smashing, ducking and punching your way through workouts that are as short as five minutes and yet more than long enough to get a sweat on or work off Zoom-call-related frustrations.

Not suitable for users under 13 years
Meta Products are intended solely for users who are aged 13 years or over. Any registration for, or use of, Meta Products by anyone under the age of 13 years is unauthorised, unlicensed and in breach of the Meta Terms.