You can't smile in the Metaverse

I'm playing with the Oculus Quest 2. It's quite good fun. I was wandering around the International Space Station, delighting in being unshackled from gravity's harsh bonds. I came to the cupola observation module and it was so beautiful that my face broke into an involuntary smile. And it hurt.

The current range of VR headsets have to be strapped tight to your face. In order to prevent your eyes going out of alignment with the lenses or the focus suddenly changing, the mask clings tight to your face. Sure, it has a foam/rubber seal to soften the pain, but it can still be pretty uncomfortable.

Take a look at most promo photos of models wearing a VR headset - their mouths are open in delight and surprise, but they're rarely smiling.

Here's 100% human Mark Zuckberg showing off the next generation of headset. He's smiling, but look at how his dimples are squashed

It doesn't look comfortable, does it?

Perhaps I just have an oddly-shaped face and I ought to get cheek reduction surgery? Or plenty of Botox? I'm sure Mark's perfectly smooth and motionless face is the target demographic for these face-clamps. The technology will mature until it's no more uncomfortable than wearing a pairs of specs. But, for now, it is physically limiting in all sorts of weird ways.