Did you see that viral picture of the Mobile World Congress wireless show in Barcelona, Spain? Hundreds of journalists wearing virtual reality headsets, completely oblivious as Facebook billionaire Mark Zuckerberg, the interview they’d all kill for, brushes past unnoticed.

Remember the early 3-D goggles? Big, crude, clunky. You felt like an idiot wearing them. And when you saw someone else wearing them you realized that not only do you feel like an idiot, you look like an idiot.

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Well, the new 3-D will be lighter and thoroughly absorbing. It will eventually include touch, acceleration, and smell. And while it will be used for serious applications, the big money will be in immersive experiences in fantasy universes.

I suppose you could argue that at least it’s safer than marijuana. But you could also argue it’s much more dangerous. Because unlike marijuana, you’re not just surrendering yourself to the random eruptions of your own brain, you’re surrendering to sensory manipulations from the mind of a stranger.

It’s a whole new type of drug &#8211 just as addictive but protected by the first amendment. Plus, no smuggling is necessary. And unlike ordinary drugs, this is a drug that, in the wrong hands, could plant the same new reality in millions of minds.

As that viral snapshot from Barcelona demonstrates, the headsets still make people look like idiots, but only until the last guy watching from the outside finally puts on his headset.

At which point it will no longer matter.

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