This company wants you to go on a virtual reality date because romance is dead

You can probably guess from the name that The League is a dating app with an unashamedly elitist bent. When you visit its homepage, it screams at you in big, block-capitals “ARE YOU TOLD YOUR STANDARDS ARE TOO HIGH? Keep them that way.”

There’s a clear message. If you’re bright and beautiful you should forget Tinder and Bumble, and instead stick with your own kind on The League.

Oh, and did I mention you have to be vetted in order to sign up?

But even in cities as large and cosmopolitan as New York, Las Vegas, and San Francisco, the pool of potential high-caliber mates can be shallow. Which is why this Valentine’s Day, The League will be throwing VR blind date parties in several US cities, allowing you to meet that someone special, even if they’re a transcontinental red-eye away.

The parties are taking place this Friday, Monday, and Tuesday at select W hotels. This Friday, it’s San Francisco and Los Angeles. Then, on Monday, it’s Boston and DC’s turn, followed by Chicago and New York on Tuesday.

The League calls these events ‘Love Without Limits,’ are they being run with the support of Oculus Rift and River Studios. According to League founder and CEO Amanda Bradford, “First dates are often a huge waste of time for everyone involved”

“With virtual reality, you can see their mannerisms and appearance over video, hear their voice over headphones, and then, to top it all off, solve games and challenges together that can gauge personality compatibility to a high degree of accuracy.”

Well, almost.

Remember, both you and the person on the other end of the call will be wearing an Oculus Rift headset, obscuring most of the top-half of their face. I imagine that many people – with perhaps the exception of those with the hots for Star Trek: The Next Generation’s Geordi La Forge – will find that a bit off-putting.

Love Without Limits doesn’t look set to be a one-time thing. The company plans to launch a virtual-reality dating platform called LeagueWorld, which is currently under development, and will be supported by both the Oculus and Vive platforms. There’s no word on how much this will cost, or when it’ll launch, but The League has suggested that it’ll be an add-on for its premium customers.