According to a group of researchers from the Microsoft company, it is a real possibility, but we will still have to wait about ten years, when the development of the technology is more mature. The experts of the North American giant point out that the multisensory experience – including touch – with a virtual reality device will then be indistinguishable from taking, for example, LSD.
Anyway, it is only a prognosis, since nothing today indicates that VR in its mainstream applications, such as video games, can cause hallucinations. Several studies indicate that those prone to them can receive the necessary stimuli to trigger an episode after a virtual reality session – and, in fact, it has been used as therapy to treat mental disorders such as schizophrenia – but for healthy people it does not carry a much greater risk than they would have playing Mario Bros on television.
Perhaps the closest one has ever come to recreating a lysergic “journey” is the Soundself application , which, according to its creators, offers a “technodelic” experience . Patterns of lights, shadows and sounds change when the user speaks or emits any noise – whispers, hisses, clearing his throat … – and, say those who have tried it, it has effects similar to those of meditation or trance. Soundself is still in beta and its developers are confident of launching it commercially this year for Facebook's HTC Vive and Oculus Rift glasses .
