Marijuana May Be Bringing Vision of Virtual Reality a Step Closer
In California, they have these conventions where you can use virtual reality with the idea of being stoned while you play. JADE has even created a special strain of marijuana called VR OG, specifically designed for the VR experience.
You may have read the best selling novel, Ready Player One, which takes place in the not too distant future where nearly everyone functions throughout their day in virtual reality. The world embracing VR has been a longtime vision of technology enthusiasts and perhaps it is marijuana that ends up creating the bridge to a virtual world.
Ceven Grey, founder of arts and entertainment company Seven Ghosts and cannabis company JADE, has been working in both virtual reality and cannabis for the last three years. For a time, Grey ran a VR arcade in downtown LA, where they held a variety of events. The popular Little Amsterdam series offered guests a cannabis bar, VR, board games, live music, live art, burlesque, psychics, and more. Though they’ve since shuttered that location, Seven Ghosts still hosts Little Amsterdam and other 420-friendly events, included medicated meals and an upcoming Christmas party, at numerous satellite locations around Los Angeles. Grey says he’s noticed that people who indulge in cannabis before entering a VR world—or “going under,” as he calls it—are typically more relaxed and less self-conscious as to how they might appear to people on the outside.
“I love giving people the chance to take a dip into virtual reality while they’re high, and I think it’s a unique experience because VR in itself is unique, but giving people the option to smoke prior gives them that extra depth. It makes it even more surreal, like a reverie,” Grey said. “It also feels like there’s more fluidity in [the player’s] movements. They figure out [how to interact in virtual reality] quicker, in a sense, even if it’s something they’ve never done before.”
Grey’s company even developed a custom strain called VR OG, specifically for smoking before embarking on a virtual journey. The strain is a hybrid, split as evenly between indica and sativa as possible. Grey said he didn’t want anyone to get too sleepy with an indica-dominant strain, but wanted to curtail any possible paranoia or anxiety, as some users already experience those emotions when experimenting with VR for the first time. Grey describes VR OG as smooth with a sweet, piney scent.
If cannabis enthusiasts feel less inhibited in a virtual reality world, then perhaps it ends up becoming a place for people to explore more of their desires. Have you ever tried out virtual reality while under the psychoactive effects of marijuana?
read more at leafly.com
Enjoyed?
Leave your Feelback!
