What happened, Time? You’re usually great with the cover photos, but for some reason you let through one of the cheesiest photos of someone wearing a virtual reality (VR) headset imaginable. But boy, the photoshops are funny.
We all thought the days of VR being seen as a weird, futuristic technology that would allow us to travel through blocky Tron-like worlds were behind us.
We’ve been teased with developer kits for the Oculus Rift, HTC have its equally cool-looking Vive coming out soon as well and it looks like we’re in for a pretty cool VR trip.
And yet, in 2015, a magazine cover can be released that sets the media’s perception of VR back a decade, as we have now seen with the recent Time VR cover photo.
Incredibly, the creator of the Oculus Rift Palmer Luckey decided it would be a good idea to leap in the air while wearing his VR headset against the backdrop of a beach.
Frankly, it’s cheesy and doesn’t do the image of VR much good when the industry has been spending so much time trying to make the technology appear more in-tune with reality, not just the virtual one.
This is the original cover that sparked the controversy.
And then the internet did what it does best and created a tonne of photoshops making fun of the cover, each as enjoyable as the last.
Time irresponsibly created a terrible story and cover for VR, but the response has been totally internet. pic.twitter.com/vzHLUzJwfn
— Mike Mika (@MikeJMika) August 6, 2015
Hey, @Time. You know what would have been better for your VR cover? LITERALLY ANYTHING ELSE pic.twitter.com/6mbZ76BkUS
— CasealUnit (@RevolverUnit) August 6, 2015
@therealcliffyb pic.twitter.com/mUcxStVaVb
— Henrique Gonçalves (@Henriquegds) August 6, 2015
— Ryan Evans (@rje) August 6, 2015
Ya han empezado los photoshopeos con la portada de la revista TIME de este mes dedicada al VR. pic.twitter.com/2wYybLAcJz
— David Somoza (@davidsomoza) August 7, 2015
The joy of flying on a the back of a woodpecker on the back of a weasel with a VR headset @TIMEpic.twitter.com/WYlSYQui5z
— Ryan Barrell (@RyanBarrell) August 7, 2015
And my personal favourite from TechCrunch.
Man wearing VR headset image via Shutterstock
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