Welcome to Good Virtual Reality and I’m so glad you’re here.
My name is Ian Hamilton. I’m the owner of this website, goodvirtualreality.com, and I’m a journalist. My work here is driven by my human curiosity as well as the direct connections I make to people out there who believe in what they do with their whole heart.
Some weeks ago a subscriber sent me the following message using the chat features of Substack:
“You’ve interviewed so many developers, builders, journalists, and people working inside XR, but I realized I have not heard your own VR story in the same full way. As someone who loves VR, XR, and the whole emerging medium, I would love to hear an episode where the community gets to interview you.”
What followed from my reader Christopher were 10 extremely engaging questions I’ve had on the back-burner of my brain:
What was the first VR experience that made you realize this medium was not just another gaming peripheral, but something larger?
When you first became a VR journalist, what did you think VR was going to become — and how has reality surprised you?
What was the biggest story you covered at UploadVR that changed how you understood the industry?
What is one VR demo, headset reveal, developer interview, or convention moment that still lives in your memory because it felt like seeing the future early?
What did working on VR Download teach you about explaining VR to people who are not inside the industry?
Do you have any funny or human behind-the-scenes stories from VR Download — technical disasters, awkward live moments, accidental comedy, spilled drinks, broken headsets, anything listeners never got to hear?
What are some of your favorite positive memories of working with David Heaney or the UploadVR team during the best years of the show?
What is something people misunderstand about VR journalism from the outside?
What technology, company, headset, game, or developer did you initially underestimate — and later realize was much more important than you thought?
After everything you’ve seen, what do you now believe “good virtual reality” actually means?
I’ve answered these questions, plus one bonus question, over a podcast lasting 1 hour and 10 minutes. If you enjoy this podcast and have more questions that have been sparked by my answers, send me an email to editor@goodvirtualreality.com, and I’ll address them in a future episode.
Please consider becoming a subscriber on Substack to support my work directly and receive most podcast episodes before everyone else. You can also simply donate any amount via Stripe to support my work here at Good Virtual Reality.
