“Many strange things happen, and it can be difficult to adapt, but if you succeed, it is magical. If you are not able to moderate and control yourself, it is endless. You won’t see the end of the party”.
Cannabis, cocaine, ketamine and alcohol to endure for holidays night after night. They can be the usual ingredients of A rave Common, but they are also digital, in which all these substances are also combined with glasses of virtual reality, psychedelic environments and people who seek to experiment and escape without leaving their homes.
This is what O’Rourke, a 38 -year Dublin information technology professional seeks for months, when connected to the virtual reality platform VRChat. He has not revealed his name in order to keep his privacy by sharing with the magazine Wired His experiences in the increasingly popular virtual raves.
The holidays take hours and attract all kinds of profiles
Nor have Luna, a young Dutch, or Heelix, a 61 -year -old Berlin, who have preferred to identify with pseudonyms or with the names of the avatars they use in the digital environment. Some of The holidays that pass for hours in VRCAT and organize from the United States, Europe or Asia gathering thousands of users in the same online space.
The experience of escapism
While traditional discos find difficulties to continue attracting the public, due, among other things, to the increase in costs, regulation or change in consumption habits; the Virtual Reality Platformsas the aforementioned, they have triggered their growth. Without going any further, Wired He points out that more than 130,000 people connected to VRCAT to celebrate New Year of this year.
His proposal is attractive to All kinds of profiles. From electronic music and marathon enthusiasts; Young people who want to break with isolation and loneliness, even seniors or trans people who want to enjoy more inclusive, diverse and safe environments of those found in face -to -face environments.
“All my friends are older and they are no longer going to clubs“, dice Heelix a Wiredexplaining how virtual reality has given comfort to its feeling of loneliness. “Here I know many people. It’s much easier “he comments on his experience on the platform, in which he participates as a virtual DJ.
Luna, virtual raves have helped him overcome depression. “I had no job. I had no real friends. I was trapped at home“, he tells the magazine. But approaching these digital parties changed everything.”It was like a way of experiencing new things, new worlds. I loved instantly“.
Now Luna claims to have her own group of friends to connect to these meetings. They drink and take mdma Before joining the parties from their respective houses.
Virtual raves: between convenience and risk
The convenience It is also one of the factors that has caused this type of leisure to be gaining adherents. Virtual reality parties allow you to avoid long lines to enter discos, tickets with increasing prices, and agglomerations. The digital parties do not charge entry, and in the case of VRCAT they have a limit of 80 people due to the capacity of their software.
He cost of experiencein this sense, it depends mostly on the user’s equipment, which can cover from the 350 dollars that cost some Quest target, to exceed 5,000 dollars if you bet on high quality hardware and body tracking devices.
On the other hand, from the point of view of the platforms, their popularization and proliferation have been built, precisely, by raising the factors that limit face -to -face night life in many places. Thus, they have found catalysts in the countless space available in virtual reality, the Accessibility, creative possibilities when developing worlds or poor regulation.
“I consumed a large dose of fungi unintentionally and it was a disaster”
However, those who frequent this type of experience also agree that They can be excessive, even dangerous. “I consumed a large dose of fungi unintentionally and it was a disaster“comments O’Rourke a Wired. He assures that in a March session 2024 he could not distinguish between his hallucinations and the world of virtual reality. He says that since then, he prefers the ketaminewhy “has greater synergy with virtual reality“And increase immersion levels.
Others ensure that they have seen users to pass with the consumption of alcohol and drugs and see their avatars disappear suddenly, and even share stories of acquaintances who have required health intervention after long sessions of substances and virtual reality. They also say that due to glasses it is difficult to realize the level of drunkenness.
According to Maria Balelet, associate researcher of the Department of Neuroimaging Studies of Imperial College in London, prolonged drug consumption combined with virtual reality can amplify the Sensory overload, cognitive fatigue and the risk of dissociation. “Having a bad virtual trip is probably worse than a bad trip outside of it, because once one leaves the environment, the body and mind also need to readjust the world, and that is exhausting”.
Security and moderation, challenges
In addition to substance consumption, which each one performs individually in their homes when connecting to the rave digital, Sex subcultures are being generated in virtual reality, with scenarios designed to imitate the effect of psychedelic drugs and erotic sessions.
PSHQ is one of those virtual worlds. Wired He describes it as one of the Sex-Positive Club, where dancers and exotic dance sessions can be found. Its creator, who identifies with the name Deityanubis, instead defines it as “A sexually positive space for an approach to music”Says that music, dance, atmosphere, the sense of community and the safe space for LGBTQ+ members are aspects to which they give importance.
Virtual reality users have found ways of simulate sex, Defisting their avatars and performing certain gestures. This has even caused new categories of pornographic audiovisual content in web pages for adults, or that certain users get to monetize their avatars, as if it were a virtual reality Onlyfans.
All this has led to the platforms harden your policies. Last January VRCAT introduced age verification to ensure that the least do not access adult spaces. This occurred after BBC published information explaining that minor users could enter virtual reality Striptease clubs and be persuaded to perform virtual sexual acts.
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The safety and moderation of content and users with inappropriate behaviors is still a challenge in this type of platforms, and especially in sessions that involve substance consumption. From Vrchat they argue that they have improved tools that provide users to protect themselves, such as blocking or complaint. The platform, as explained to WiredIt has the capacity to track and block problematic users.
However, this type of virtual experiences can also mean The entrance door to face -to -face experiences. Some of the DJs that make sessions on the platform have also made sessions in real premises. The manager of the popular Shelter scenario assure that in some of them attendees have approached him to tell him that it was his first real rave. “I did not think that I would ever have the confidence to come to a show“They have told him.
More info.: 60-Hour Dance Sessions, Simulated Sex, and Ketamine: Inside the World of Hardcore VR Ravers
