Don developed a new way to virtually recreate the random connections we make IRL. Can a virtual platform ever replace getting together in person? And more importantly, is that cool? 

"This allows you to go up to somebody, move around the room, sit next to them and recreate those moments of serendipity that happen in real life."

Listen to Don’s submission featured in Episode 88 of How Cool Is This? and read a transcript of the full 5 minute podcast episode below:

Don: My name's Don Stein, and I'm the Founder of a company called Roomkey. So back when I was living in San Francisco in 2015, I was hosting meetup events and usually we'd have 30 to 50 people in the room.

At almost every event that we would host, afterwards, someone would message me and say something along the lines of “I'm so glad that I went and was in the room because I met so-and-so and we were able to now start a company or write an article” or do any of the things that really make a true impact on their lives.

And to me that's really, really valuable, both from a community leader and from someone that's attending these events. So when I started looking online for options of different ways to bring people together, what I met was really just a bunch of square boxes that had people's video feed in it,

But you didn't have those serendipitous moments where you happen to sit next to somebody and then they go on to become an important relationship in your life that actually changes things and grows your world for the better.

What we do at Roomkey is we create virtual venues that are very similar to a real venue.

You create a character and you go in there and then you can move your character around. we're available from iOS, Android, desktop, and pretty soon a headset.

What this allows is for you to go up to somebody, move around the room, sit next to them and recreate those moments of serendipity that happened at real life events… and that's Roomkey.

Leave us a voicemail @ 848-863-9917

to submit your idea to How Cool Is This?

Brian: Nick, how cool is Roomkey?

Nick: Roomkey sounds pretty cool to me right now, especially since we're approaching a year of the little square boxes staring at you.

Brian: Yeah, the squares are exhausting. Is it cool for us to talk about Roomkey?

Nick: I think it would be cool to be transparent about the fact that we are working with Roomkey, that we're trying to develop some programming for the platform right now… because we think it's something that's pretty cool, and we want to explore how cool it can really be.

Brian: We're in this weird place where we're only supposed to go off of what the submission says, but we know more about the idea.

Nick: I think that checking out the Roomkey platform just helps us get a better idea of whether or not Roomkey is cool, not just cool in a sense that it's a break from everything else, but cool in the sense that, this might be a totally new way of virtually connecting,

Brian: It’s like the Sims for real life.

Nick: What's cooler in terms of virtual representation? An avatar that looks exactly like you in real life or an avatar that represents the ideal version of yourself, who you would like to be?

Brian: If I put myself as this big hunk in Roomkey, and then I log off and I look at myself in the mirror and then I notice, ‘Oh, I'm nine out of 10,’ instead of 10 out of 10, that could be uncool. I would feel not as good about myself as I presented.

Nick: Yeah, and if you created a 10 out of 10 hunk version of yourself in Roomkey, I would call you out and tell people that you don't really look like that in real life, because transparency is cool.

Brian: But, don't people want to stare at a 10 out of 10 hunk, regardless of if it's true or not?

Nick: That's a good point. Even if I told people that you weren't accurately representing yourself, they might say, ‘We don't care. We love to look at virtual Brian!’

Brian: Virtual Brian is a beefcake, and I like that. I'm going to keep coming back.

Nick: My avatar and Roomkey does have a much better mustache than I do in real life. I like to imagine that maybe one day I could have a mustache that good.

Brian: But if all human interactions are then relegated to Roomkey, you might not need it.

Nick: That's true. No one will know if I have one in real life or not, because Roomkey will be all that matters.

Brian: Can virtual reality ever be cooler than real reality?

Nick: I mean, that's a very bong hit kind of question, but I think we can get to a place where they both serve important functions. So ultimately, disregarding the fact that we are working with Roomkey. I still think Roomkey is a really cool idea and has the potential to upend virtual communication.

Brian: Yeah, we wouldn't have agreed to build in Roomkey if we didn't think there was potential, or if we didn't think that it was cool.

Nick: And because we said it's cool, you should go ahead and download Roomkey from the app store of your choice.

Brian: We'll be doing pitch nights, rebuttals, and we've got a weekly show that we'll be launching in March.

Nick: For more info on all of that go to our website.

Brian: howcoolisthis.show/watch

Nick: I didn't know we had an actual URL. That's cool.

Join Nick and Brian for This Week in Cool in Roomkey every Thursday at 8:00 pm Eastern. We’ll be talking about what’s cool, what’s not, and nothing in between. RSVP here.

Listen to a 5 minute episode of How Cool Is This? on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or anywhere else you find podcasts.