My VR Trip
René Magritte, a well-known surrealist artist, famously wrote, “This is not a pipe” (in French, “Ceci n’est pas une pipe”) in his hallmark 1928 painting, “The Treachery of Images.” This painting sought to define the barrier between perception and reality. A pipe is a device designed for you to smoke with. You can’t smoke with an image of a pipe hence, “ceci n’est pas une pipe.”
VR is enabling you to go into the painting, grab the pipe and smoke it.
Our digital experience will no longer be limited to just the “image.”
With the advent of VR/AR, the digital entertainment experience / computing consumerism is becoming all the more sticky; Its immersive sensory experience not only deploys visual and auditory stimulations but also haptics and hand/body-tracking. The result is a sense of presence within the virtual world that is unparalleled to any former technology.
A week ago, on Wednesday, January 31, I had the pleasure of visiting The Glimpse Group, a VR/AR holding company, in its NYC office. They were hosting a company from Prague called Vrgineers who were demo’ing their new VRHero 5K Plus virtual reality headset. The team is combining ultra high definition visuals with haptics and leap motion user input to extend a user’s virtual experience. For example, I could open the door and take a tour of a luxury car without motion controllers. In addition, the high resolution displays allowed me to see fine details such as the stitching of the seats and the beautiful leather. My final experience was created by Glimpse and was designed to show the power of virtual reality. I was placed on the top of a building and asked to change a virtual light bulb. The environment made my heart race and I was genuinely afraid of stepping out onto the edge of a building. It was clear to see how powerful virtual reality can be when combining amazing hardware from companies like Vrgineers with deeply immersive experiences from software companies like Glimpse.
The media philosopher Marshall McLuhan’s “final phase of the extensions of man — the technological simulation of consciousness” is very close to being here! (a)(Understanding Media: The extensions of man, page 5) What’s after this “final phase”? Happily ever after in our digital matrix? I hope our digital paradise also has a unicorn.
If you would like to get a hit of this VR Trip thrill, the popular entertainment venue Whisky Saigon in downtown Boston will be hosting a VR Trip event via Beantown Builder and Mint Nightlife where you will be able to experience similar types of experiences. Please mark your calendars for Friday, 3/2. Will there be unicorns? Come and see for yourself.
Footnote (a): we might need mind-uploading for the final-phase, depending on how committed we want to be.
