通常來說，年齡的增長意味著不可避免地要失去某些東西——頭發、牙齒、家人和朋友，也許還包括房子和金錢。

隨著人口不斷老化，越來越多的人想要活到100歲甚至更大的歲數。不過，更長的壽命可能是件禍福相依的事情。我們真的愿意延長老年時代嗎？畢竟，如今的許多老人發現自己失去了與社會的聯系，他們成天待在封閉的房子里面，感到十分孤單。身體機能的下降讓老年人很難維持他們的人際關系，以及愛情和生命的意義。

現在好了。歡迎來到虛擬現實世界。

許多專家認為，虛擬現實絕不僅是游戲領域一時流行的風尚。越來越多的人相信它能夠打造全方位，廣角度的體驗，甚至可以重現人們珍視的記憶。

想象一下，在你100歲的時候，和妻子重溫第一次約會的場景，那會是什么情形？

想象一下，如果我們在年老的時候，無論身體狀況如何，都可以利用科技手段，尤其是虛擬現實技術和其他可穿戴設備，重現當年的記憶并創造新的人際關系和體驗，那會是什么情形？

約會指南作家詹妮弗?凱爾頓表示，這都是多巴胺和催產素作用的結果，我們從社交互動中獲得的快感會促進大腦分泌化學物質。

荷爾蒙是人生意義、激情以及愛情中必不可少的一部分——無論我們的年齡大小。

約會網站BadOnlineDates.com創始人，《21世紀約會求偶指南》一書的作者凱爾頓表示：“多巴胺和催產素會給予我們身體和情感方面的支持。”

“有趣的是，我們從社交網絡、游戲以及親身互動中，能得到許多令人愉悅的荷爾蒙。”她補充道。

在我們老去的同時，包括可穿戴設備和機器人在內的許多技術，會打造一個方便人們約會和建立人際關系的全新世界。不過，虛擬現實和游戲技術也許會引發最大的變革，尤其是隨著幻覺狀態和生物反應技術的發展。

第一波虛擬現實技術已經初露端倪。《紐約時報》不久前發布的虛擬現實應用贏得了一片喝彩。谷歌推出了一套硬紙板折成的虛擬現實眼鏡，供用戶配合手機使用。還有一些公司從各種高度和角度拍攝360度視頻，讓用戶不只是看電影，而是親身參與到電影當中。Facebook旗下的Oculus Rift公司也準備發布下一代頭戴設備。

游戲開發者、XEODesign公司創始人尼克爾?拉扎羅也認為，虛擬現實技術和游戲將為老人提供全新的體驗，絕不僅僅是簡單的娛樂。她目前在開發一款名為“追蹤白兔子”的游戲，以迎合人們希望深化虛擬現實體驗的情緒。

拉扎羅指出，這項技術在未來50年的迅速發展，甚至灰超出我們今天的想象。她表示：“虛擬現實的精髓在于體驗，在于催生情緒。當我們考慮年齡老化和約會時，我們實際上討論的是社會關系，而虛擬現實顯然可以實現這一點。”

這意味著，待在沉浸式，廣角度的虛擬現實領域中就能體驗到新鮮事物，比如滑翔傘運動，還能重現記憶。使用虛擬現實技術，還可以將當前的幻想和過去的現實結合并聯系起來。

物理限制將會消失。即便你在空間上受到了限制，你也可以與新的朋友騎著自行車游覽尼泊爾或者乘風滑翔。

不相信嗎？請想像一下那些笨重的虛擬現實頭戴設備被隱形眼鏡代替，而其他佩戴虛擬現實眼鏡的人與你同處一個場景。你可以用你想被感知到的方式塑造自己，而其他人會真的感覺你在那里，而不只是知道你的年齡。如果你想要再次變得年輕，在虛擬現實場景里就可以辦到。甚至，如果你想成為一只章魚，在接下來50年內也許也能實現。

對于50年后的人際交往和約會，這意味著什么？這意味著我們增加了一個新層次的現實世界，物理限制將會消失。這意味著衰老被重新定義，那些可能無法輕易、頻繁出門的老人也能擁有全新的工作和社交時間。它有助于緩解老年人面臨的問題，他們之前被隔絕開來，無法與同齡人或者比他們年輕的人交往。

顯然，這種先進技術也許會促使百歲以上的老人結合在一起。你在對公園里散步的那對老夫妻微笑？也許50年后，他們就會在重現的高中禮堂里漫步了。

現在大約有60%的老年人已經開始上網，他們會去社交網絡、游戲平臺或OurTime.com之類的約會網站。隨著更多數字時代的人進入老年，這一數字在未來還會上升。

如果你覺得老人不需要繼續約會或是保持親密關系的話，那就錯了，老年人也有許多性行為。實際上，由于人們對婚外性行為的態度比以前開放，老年人感染性病的案例有所增加。更高的離婚率和更多的分手次數，讓老年人的單身數量也提高了。

不過凱爾頓表示，無論是線上還是現實中會面，其重點在于跟其他人交流。隨著越來越多人在家里而不是輔助生活社區中變老，這一點尤其重要。

她說：“無論是真實社區還是虛擬社區，生活在聯系緊密的社區中的人們，都會有更長的壽命。”（財富中文網）

本文作者安迪?斯科洛普夫是前高盛集團技術分析師，目前在丹佛云服務公司HOSTING擔任首席戰略官。

譯者：嚴匡正

審校：任文科

Growing old, at least as we know it today, is about inexorable loss — loss of hair, loss of teeth, loss of family and friends, loss of home and money, perhaps.

As the population ages, and more people are expected to reach 100 years old and beyond, it can seem a mixed blessing. Is old age something we want to prolong? After all, many old folks do today find themselves cut off, shut in and lonely. Relationships — love and meaning — can be made difficult by physical barriers.

Enter VR — virtual reality.

Many experts believe that VR will be more than a gaming fad. There is a growing belief it can create an ability to have full-fledged, wide-angle experiences, and even relive cherished memories.

Imagine if, at 100, you and your wife could relive your first date?

Imagine old age if we can use technology, VR in particular, and other wearables to not only rekindle memories, but also to create new connections and experiences, no matter what our physical status in real life?

Dating guide author Jennifer Kelton says it’s all about dopamine and oxytocin, and the rush we get from social interactions which spur the brain chemical.

It’s a hormone that is integral to meaning and excitement — and love — no matter what our age.

“These hits of dopamine and oxytocin sustain us on a physical and emotional level,” says Kelton, the founder of BadOnlineDates.com and the author of Don’t Use My Sweater Like a Towel: The Stain Free Guide for Dating and Mating in the 21st Century.

“Interestingly,’’ she adds, “we can get these doses of pleasure hormones from social networks and gaming, as well as from in-person interactions.”

Many technologies, including wearables and robotics, will create Brave New Worlds for dating and relationships, as we get older. VR and gaming may offer the most dramatic shifts, however, especially as the suspension of disbelief improves and biological responses develop.

The first wave of VR is already on the horizon, too. The New York Times just released its VR app, to some acclaim. Google GOOG 2.03% has created a whole selection of cardboard VR viewers you can use with your cell phone. There are companies that are filming 360 degree video from multitudes of heights and perspectives to allow users to participate in movies, rather than just watch them. Oculus Rift, owned by Facebook FB 2.51% , is ready to launch next-generation headsets.

Game developer Nicole Lazzaro, founder of XEODesign, agrees that that VR and gaming could open up new experiences for the elderly in the future, and that it will go beyond simple entertainment. She is working on a game called Follow the White Rabbitthat targets emotions to deepen the VR experience.

Lazzaro notes that the technology will advance in leaps and bounds in the next 50 years to beyond what we can even imagine today. “Virtual reality is about experiences and generating emotions,” she says. “When we think about aging and dating we are really talking about social relationships, and virtual reality will deliver that in spades.”

That means a sojourn in the immersive, wide-angle VR realm could allow someone to experience new things such as paragliding as well as a memories. It also could tie the two — present fantasy and past reality — together and network them with others using VR.

Physical limits will fall away. Even if you are physically confined, you could be cycling in Nepal or hang-gliding with your new friend.

Skeptical? Just imagine that those clunky VR headsets have been replaced with contact lenses, and other people wearing the VR lenses can be in the same scene as you. You can project yourself, as you want to be perceived, and be seen for who you feel you really are, rather than just your age. If you want to be young again, in VR you can. (Heck, if you want to be an octopus, in 50 years from now you could probably do that, too.)

What does this mean in terms of relationships and dating fifty years from now? This could mean that we add a new layer to reality, one where our physical limits fall away. It could mean a redefinition of aging as a newly productive and social time for old folks who perhaps can no longer get out as easily or as often. It could help bridge the gap that both elderly men and women face in being closed off from interaction with people their own age, and with younger ages.

Of course, the advances will also probably spur a spate of centenarian coupling, too. That old couple that you smile at as they take a stroll in the park? In 50 years they might be walking through a re-creation of the halls of their old high school.

About 60 percent of seniors are already online today, on social networks, gaming platforms or dating sites such as OurTime.com. Those numbers will grow as more digitally savvy generations hobble into the future.

And if you think older folks don’t need to continue to date and be in relationships, seniors are having lots of sex already. Indeed, the prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases have risen among the elderly, helped by more relaxed attitudes to sex outside of marriage. Higher divorce rates and more breakups and higher have led to more single people, too.

But whether you meet online or in person, Kelton says what remains important is having interactions with others — something that’s especially important as more Americans age in place rather than moving to assisted living facilities.

“People who live in strong communities, whether they are real or virtual, will have longer lifespans,” she says.

Andy Schroepfer, a former tech analyst for Goldman Sachs, is chief strategy officer at HOSTING, a Denver-based managed cloud services firm. Follow him on Twitter at @SHrepFUR, which is the phonetic spelling of his name.