Tag: Virgin Galactic

Virtual Reality is Virtually All We Were Promised

There is an alternate universe now and I don’t mean on another planet. I have discovered virtual reality and I can’t even say enough good things about this world.

Baby Boomers at various times were promised certain amazing inventions awaiting us in the future.

Hover boards, Jet Packs, Beep Beep Rosie, and virtual reality were all wonders we could look forward to experiencing in our futures.

Somehow Beep Beep Rosie fell short when a little round thing that kept bumping into walls and held a teaspoon full of dirt appeared. Sorry, Rosie, but I’m still waiting.

Hover boards, well if they exist, I haven’t seen one and neither have most. And, of course at this age I’d probably fall off and break my hip anyway. So I guess the hover board thing is a non-starter now.

Jet packs, boy that’s a disappointment. That was the one I was super excited about. Can you imagine not having to fight traffic and just be able to hop into the sky like a bird and fly to the mall. Sign me up!

I suppose I have been rather let down by the technology that I expected and never showed up as promised.

Now artificial intelligence seems to be more of a threat than a promise, I feel like I’d like to register a complaint with my local high-tech geniuses. Excuse me, can you swear this thing won’t take over my life and do evil?

Somehow I’m thinking that would be a big no.

Don’t even get me started with the whole killer robot thing.

So what can please you, you ask as I complain?

I’m here to tell you I am a huge fan of virtual reality.

It’s even spread to gaming of which I am also a devotee and greatly enjoy.

I’ll begin with Roblox an online Atari or Nintendo that has more games than anyone can play. Within those games are many that allow you to create your own world. Homes and cities and anything within your own imagination. What a trip? Such fun to enter your own world after you’ve created it to your own specifications.

Still, I must admit above all I am a huge fan of virtual reality.

If you’ve never tried it, it’s a trip into any world you seek to visit.

You can travel to distant lands without leaving your home. See the wonders of the world close up and personal without hiking up mountains. Even climb Mt. Everest without breaking a sweat. The vistas and beauty is all there and you can enjoy each moment at your leisure.

Once you put the mask on your eyes you enter worlds beyond your expectations and see things you cannot ever see on this earth.

One game I play is a mini golf game with different courses including Atlantis, The Gardens of Babylon and even a trip to Venice, Italy.

The ability of the designers of these worlds to leave you breathless is incredible. You’re certain you’ve entered the past, a planet, a new galaxy or universes never imagined in a lifetime.

You find yourself lost in places so beautiful and serene you don’t want to leave. You can be underwater one moment and in outer space the next. This technology truly lives up to the hype. However, not everyone is so keen to travel through these methods. It is a bit freaky leaving the earth and I’m sure many resist the whole experience.

I however choose to embrace every moment and feel quite content sitting underwater in Atlantis and watching giant sea turtles swim by. Or gazing at the hanging gardens of Babylon with all its magnificent color and spectacle.

Then begs the questions is this virtual world a place to merely escape to or can it be just as real as the one in which we are living.

How easy is it to trade the insanity of our present times for the serenity and beauty of worlds we merely have to don a mask to enter.

No news filled with horrible stories. No awareness of all the hatred and evil around us. Just pure beauty and contentment as we sightsee in a virtual universe designed to take us on a great adventure.

Now of course I’m not inferring it is merely all perfect in this virtual reality. There are games so real you actually gasp when Darth Vader appears and draws his light saber to attack. Outer space is so dark and foreboding you are constantly afraid you’ll fall off the edge of the galaxy.

Yet the ability to fly and move about freely without even a jetpack is quite enticing.

Albeit it can throw you off balance at times if you soar too high.

All I know is I can golf like Arnold Palmer, fly like a bird and climb Machu Pichu without aching feet reveling in all these experiences.

So many of the great innovations in these times seem to be enjoyed and embraced by younger generations. Yet we dreamed of these inventions and because we created them in our minds, they actually came into existence.

Why should we not be able to avail ourselves of their wonders?

So you can’t golf one day because your arthritis is acting up. Don a VR mask and compete with the pros.

Had to postpone that trip to Italy? Ride the canals of Venice in a gondola and just soak in the scenery. Couldn’t afford the passage on that Virgin Galactic flight to the edge of the universe? No problem you can explore outer space in your pajamas.

Oh sure it isn’t the real thing of course, but when it’s a substitute you can enjoy, hey why not?

We’ve always escaped to the movies, into books and many other ways for years to create our own reality, this is merely another way to achieve that peaceful state.

Have fun touring Europe today, I’ll be playing golf on a galaxy far far away. Happy virtual reality, everyone. You dreamed it and you deserve to enjoy its wonders.

A Great Day to be a Geek Thank You Sir Richard

What a Great Day to be a Geek and Thank You Sir Richard 

The dictionary defines a Geek as… “A peculiar person, especially one who is perceived to be overly intellectual, unfashionable, or socially awkward….”I say what a great day to be a Geek. Say it loud and say it proud, this is Geek Day on planet earth.Sir Richard Branson’s trip to the edge of space today was one of the greatest advancements toward us regular folk strapping in and successfully achieving the dream of joining Kirk, Spock and Flash Gordon above the bounds of earth.

Yes, I happily admit I am one of those people; the ones who dreamed of escaping this planet and seeking adventures among the stars. My first story at the age of eight was about space travel so it started early in this Geek. Although no one has ever referred to me by that particular designation, I believe it’s because there is actually a bit of Geek in most of us. Oh sure we seek coolness in our manner and pretend to be aloof when someone talks about this or that particular episode of Twilight Zone. However is it a coincidence whenever you mention the episode To Serve Man, everyone is familiar and can tell you the end where we find out it’s a cookbook. Deny if you will, but no one was untouched or unexcited when Neil Armstrong hopped down that ladder and touched the moon. When John Glenn orbited the earth or now when Richard Branson unclasped his seat belt and flew weightless for four minutes to the edge of space.

Are we perhaps now a bit jaded by all these accomplishments? I imagine we are, after all we are living in the world of AI and robotics and everything has changed except for the contempt and disgust we feel for politicians, but I doubt that would be any different on any planet. So why am I so pumped about Branson’s flight, when at my age I wouldn’t even be a candidate for a quick ride myself? Simply put this is the culmination of a dream held since childhood. Going from watcher to doer. Actually being able to participate in space travel is as exciting to me as watching Babe Ruth hit that record breaking ball was to New York fans.

This is not the end, but the beginning and now that the barrier has been broken it will continue to move quickly toward ever more exciting new efforts and achievements. Oh yes, there is one small caveat of course. A seat on the Concorde was 12,000 dollars. A seat to fly to the edge of space is now $200,000. A bit out of the reach of most Geeks, unless of course you’re Bill Gates or Elon Musk or were lucky enough to sell your app to one of the big guys for a billion or so. Although I’d love to suit up for an adventure I’ve been dreaming of since my childhood I’m afraid it will probably be my grandchildren that are flying around, planet hopping and if I’m lucky they’ll be able to regale me with their stories of Mars and other such exciting destinations.

Sir Richard Branson was the first billionaire into space and won the race even beating Jeff Bezos who probably should have called Amazon to deliver him and might have gotten there quicker. I suppose for now it’s a rich man’s travel package, one that most of us earthlings can’t avail ourselves of at this time. But like all new discoveries and inventions, the price will come down. In the 1980s we paid upwards of 5000 dollars for a big screen television, now on Black Friday you can get one for a hundred if you’re willing to risk a few broken bones to get into the store.

So will we find space to be Lost in Space or Hal in 2001: A Space Odyssey? Will it be filled with odd creatures that populate the Mos Eisley Cantina on Tatooine? What is waiting for us up there in the star-filled blackness of space and will we be glad we ventured forth into this new frontier? I hope I’m able to get some of those answers in my lifetime. Although some may believe this is business as usual in space travel, I have to admit I’m a pretty happy Geek today and relatively certain there are a whole lot more of us today thanks to Sir Richard Branson and Virgin Galactic .        

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