Dude, you're not really here

In the past, heavy headsets, chunky graphics and sluggish latency have hindered the suspension of disbelief in virtual reality. But now, in Oculus' dozens of "experiences," as the company dubs them, you can live out your guitar-god dreams in Rock Band VR, float weightless in deep outer space in Adrift or hack through Tron-like computer nodes in Darknet. In each of these, you're not just playing, you're transported.

Palmer Luckey, the founder of Oculus VR, preparing for a demonstration of the virtual reality headset his company is developing. Patrick T. Fallon/The NY Times/Redux

The experience, which teleports me to a jagged cliff in a virtual world spanning 50 square miles, is so realistic that I can barely look down – when I do, my knees buckle and my palms sweat. Finally, my brain has to interrupt: Dude, you're not really here.

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