Facebook Spaces is truly the Skype of the future

I quit my hometown 4 years ago, when I was 17, to study CS in Paris. Since then, I’ve been calling my mum every day even for just a minute, chatting with her on Skype for a couple of hours on week-ends. It’s better than a regular audio call, but my mum always said having a video conversation is great but at the end, it’s just you on a screen. I still miss you. I do agree with her. Video conversations are so frustrating, you’re only desire at that moment is to jump through your screen and join the other person.

Two days ago we tried Facebook Spaces, she was using Messenger on her Samsung phone, and I was inside my Oculus Rift headset. It’s been an amazing, delightful 25 minutes experience. You’d be surprised at how powerful it is to see someone, even in 2D, inside the virtual reality. It is immersive. We travelled together in places we both know and love (thanks to my 360 pictures of my hometown and nearby mountains, in the french riviera). She recognized my typical italian hands movements (thanks to Touch controllers). She loved it.

She tried HoloLens, Gear VR, Oculus Rift + Touch, different games and apps… This time, just before I hang up, she asked me how much the Rift costs, because now she wants one so we can regularly have picnic together, in VR.

I think I’ve found her birthday’s gift.