https://medium.com/@KleinKleinKlein/an-online-identity-crisis-e32c3b32e30d

One January night in VRChat, something peculiar happened. Suddenly, A red and black robot avatar suddenly dropped to the ground and began to convulse. While VRChat is described as a meet-up-chatroom-esque virtual world, it’s worth remembering all of its characters are very real. Concerned, a Pokémon, leprechaun, and skeleton — among other avatars — ceased their activity to examine what was happening. The robot didn’t stop, unresponsive to the other players’ worry. Thoroughly evident due to their motion-tracking gear, the robot, and its controller, were having a seizure. With no name, no location and no context to what was happening, bystanders in this virtual reality watched helplessly. Fascinatingly though, despite the reputation VRChat received at the time for sophomoric behavior, the onlookers here all knew, there was a real person behind this robot.

As 2018 begins to unfold, not only are we still faced with the same unanswered questions in respect to online identity, but now we face a new set of challenges — those regarding identity in social virtual realities. With a swift surge in popularity for VRChat, a new Directorial-hire at Facebook’s developing Spaces VR, beta-testing underway for Linden Lab’s Second Life VR project Sansar, and anticipation for Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of the VR adventure Ready Player One, social VR is confidently slated for its introduction to the mainstream this year.