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Now that virtual reality is becoming more and more commonplace, its applications have begun to expand beyond the novelty of video games. Doctors are beginning to use VR to train procedures, and NextVR will be the wave of the future in how we watch sports, movies, and, inevitably, porn. But if you’re just a simple millennial whose existence consists largely of brunch, drinking, binging Netflix, and checking how many likes your last Instagram post got, well do I have good news for you. Now, you’re going to be able to have the magical proposal she’s always dreamt of, from the comfort of your own home!
That’s right, the first great innovator of romance has already begun this trend. Per Mashable, one aspiring young man actually tricked the future Mrs. into a VR proposal, saying that it was a test for a new game. Instead of getting to see Master Chief kill some Covenant grunts up close, she was instead brought to her favorite childhood spot–the apple tree in her grandmother’s backyard–for the fairytale proposal.
It all sounds cute as hell right? Well, given the rate that technology accelerates, we could be seeing more and more VR proposals in the next decade. But should you do it for your lucky lady or fella? Let’s pro/con this shit.
Pro: it’s romantic
As this enterprising chap just showed us, VR gives you a lot of opportunities to give your love the perfect romantic proposal she wants. If she’s always imagined being proposed to under a rainbow, in Paris, during the night, with fireworks going off behind her, and surrounded by her family including her dead grandmother, well that’s all possible with VR.
Plus, it’s totally spontaneous and she won’t see it coming. Instead of enduring a 7-hour flight to Paris, followed by several days in the most romantic/cliched city in the world, during which time she’ll totally sniff out your scheme, you’re just taking her to some repurposed warehouse for a little fun date. Little does she know that you’ve tipped off the nerd in the Tron shirt to load up a sim putting you both on a blimp over the rainforest. God knows if you want to get actual tears for that Insta story, you gotta do it shock-and-awe style.
Con: it looks like garbage
There’s no way around it, the VR showed in that video looked like ass. Your lady wants to be proposed to by a strong, rugged, handsome man that she wants to show off to her friends and rivals on Instagram, not a pixelated version of you that looks like you fell out of Minecraft. Although the romance and surprise levels are easy to conjure in this scenario, the fairy tale illusion is easily shattered by her looking around and noticing how the applauding crowd looks like it’s full of the same generic fans that populate the stands in FIFA ‘09. On the VR spectrum, we’re closer to Johnny Mneumonic than Ready Player One in terms of quality and realism. So maybe hold off until the O.A.S.I.S. launches for real.
Pro: it’s economically viable
In spite of all the romantic awws you get while telling the story, a destination, romantic proposal costs a shitload. I mean, plane ride, first-class accommodations the whole way, champagne, fancy dinners, roses and the whole nine yards. That’s on top of the gaudy amount of money you’ve probably already dropped on the ring–aka the second lead in the Instagram story behind the lady donning it. Some people might not be able to afford all these fancy pamperings. Trade the actual Machu Picchu for a simulated proposal in the Andes, and pocket that extra money for expensive liquor at the wedding or a fancy honeymoon.
Con: you don’t get the dream destination proposal
Let’s be real here: in 2018 the proposal is 95% about the girl. Specifically, her social media. In that moment, she doesn’t really care that she’s going to be spending the rest of her life with the man of her dreams; she really just cares about getting that ring and proving to all her friends that she is one of the pretty people who can get a man. The Instagram and the story of the proposal have become the main focus, making the man who proposes almost a stand-in figure.
There isn’t a girl alive who wants to begin her story with the phrase, “well he and I were playing a VR video game…” She wants to talk about how you proposed on the beach at sunset during your trip to Thailand. Or in front of the fire surrounded by a snowy night in Tahoe. Or in the office surrounded by hundreds of candles, which eventually set off the fire alarm. She’s been thinking about the dream proposal probably since the first date. There’s no worse way to start off a marriage than with her sitting in the passenger seat, arms crossed, on a silent, 40-minute trip back from the outlet malls where the VR studio is located.
Pro: it lets anyone have their fairytale proposal
The simple fact of the matter is, not everyone can make a destination proposal happen. For many, money is so tight that they cannot afford a trip to the Alps or back to her home country of Guatemala for the proposal she’s always imagined. Or maybe one of you has some debilitating injury, illness, or handicap that makes her dream proposal unfeasible for you.
VR is the perfect solution, a touching gesture that says you know how much she wanted the dream proposal. Even though you can’t give that to her now, you want to spend your life with her so badly that you’ll make her dream proposal happen through sheer force of will. Besides, if she comes out of the simulation on the mountain to see her wounded soldier fiance on one knee with the ring, surrounded by her friends and family, well it’s pretty hard to get more fairytale than that.
Con: it will become so stale and commonplace it loses its appeal
VR is a novelty now, but once the technology advances it will become as common to have a VR headset as it is to have a flat-screen TV. When that happens, a VR proposal will be about as romantic as a proposal on the big screen at a minor league baseball game. Does getting in on the ground floor of this trend before it passes fad and becomes cliche give your story any salvation? Probably not. .
[via Mashable]
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@joshetyler
@joshetyler
Can we all just imagine what Girl would have done if this is how Todd proposed?
Would’ve saved him a boatload of money from the trip and eventual divorce
I like how the thought of VR mixed into important life moments like this has everyone so scared they won’t even comment on this. Just staring at their screen contemplating life.
Still worse than the guy who proposed by hiding the ring in a McDonald’s Chicken Sandwich.