Discussing VR in Netflix's "The Three-Body Problem" and Cixin Liu's Vision of the Metaverse Future

The Netflix adaptation of "The Three-Body Problem" is now streaming! Based on the renowned Chinese sci-fi novel by Cixin Liu, the series is penned and executive produced by "Game of Thrones" creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss. The show also enlists the expertise of the novel's English translator and science fiction author, Ken Liu, as a consultant alongside Cixin Liu. With the original author's blessing and a dream production team, this new Netflix adaptation has garnered significant attention.

However, not everyone is optimistic about this version. Aside from the PTSD-inducing reviews of the last season of "Game of Thrones" contributed by the two producers, "The Three-Body Problem," as one of contemporary China's most famous science fiction novels and winner of the 2015 Hugo Award, was deemed nearly impossible to translate into a visual form due to its high-tech concepts and complex multidimensional world.

But did you know? The "Three-Body Problem," created in 2006, also features the concept of a "metaverse." The first book essentially revolves around immersive VR technology.In 2017, "The Three-Body Problem" was selected by UploadVR as one of the "50 Scifi Books Featuring AR and VR Technology."

The VR headset featured in the Netflix version of "The Three-Body Problem" has been criticized by someone on X, who complained that the design was terrible and resembled metal underwear.(Source: Netflix)

Netflix Promotes Series with VR Headsets

(Warning! The following paragraphs contain spoilers for both the novel and the series.)

In the novel, Cixin Liu describes a game called "Three-Body," used by the Earth-Trisolaris Organization to recruit and communicate with members. Players donning the "V-gear" can enter the "Three-Body Game," experiencing the terror of the Chaotic Eras caused by three suns and seeking solutions to the famous three-body problem in celestial mechanics.His visionary take on immersive VR earned him the title of "China's First Metaverse Architect."

The VR headsets in the novel are pure science fiction, capable of conveying tactile sensations and immersive visual effects. In reality, while headset resolutions are improving, achieving tactile feedback still requires additional gear like the Teslasuit or bHaptics-developed sensor suits.

Given the close ties between "The Three-Body Problem" and VR technology, Netflix showcased the in-show headset at CES 2024, allowing audiences to watch the trailer through it, reportedly with added sensations of shaking and wind (4D movie, anyone?). The Tencent series that aired in 2023 even partnered with Chinese manufacturer Pimax to feature their headsets directly in the show.

The Tencent version of the head display also comes with a VR treadmill. It would be cooler if it is paired with holotile. (Source: Reddit)

Cixin Liu: VR and Similar Products May Limit Human Imagination

Despite being hailed as "China's First Metaverse Architect," Cixin Liu publicly criticized the concept of the metaverse as "a regression of human civilization, leading humanity down a dead end," when Meta announced its grand vision for the metaverse in 2021.

Setting aside the hyperbolic spin from Chinese content farms, Cixin Liu's actual concern was that VR technology and even internet technologies might be hindering the development of human imagination.

Cixin Liu elaborated: "The fastest-developing technologies in human history are inward-looking, such as networking and IT technologies. They make our culture increasingly introverted to the point where soon we could spend our entire lives confined to a room without difficulty, experiencing the landscapes of the world without stepping outside.

This inward turn in our culture is profound, and the new generation might experience the stars and the sea through immersive VR without the need to take risks in exploration—this represents a deep cultural shift.

This shift is reflected in the new generation of science fiction literature. Whether this change is good or bad, I do not wish to judge, but as a science fiction writer, I believe there are countless possibilities for the future, but they do not include a future of interstellar travel. No matter how prosperous Earth may be, that would be a dark future."

It's clear that Cixin Liu's concerns are less about VR itself and more about the excessive indulgence in consumer technology and entertainment. By this standard, short videos on TikTok or AI-generated videos by Sora might be more worrisome to Cixin Liu.

Do you agree with Cixin Liu's observation that the internet and VR technology are making our culture more "introverted"? Are you eager to try the "Three-Body Game" in VR from the novel? Should we be concerned about what makes people choose virtual over reality?