Anywho, I digress …

Picked

Over the years, I have worked hard to create a filter (or at the very least, a delay loop) between my brain and my mouth.

Let’s be honest, I really don’t have one.  But I try.

Anywho, I digress …

I am a member of the Silicon Valley chapter of SIGGRAPH.  Well, I have been since May 🙂  This week I attended my second meeting.  It was at the Virtual Human Interaction Lab at Stanford.  There was an interesting talk from Kathryn Segovia and then a tour of the lab.  I confess that it was the tour I was most looking forward to.

The tour started with a quick look at a 3D TV that required no glasses or particular viewing angle.  I want one.

The highlight of the tour was the opportunity for 6 people to don the virtual reality rig and slip into a nether world.

The first 3 volunteers were transported into a room with a plank over a yawning chasm. Theirs was a purely visual experience.

I waited for the second world that included a haptic floor and the opportunity to cut down a virtual tree. When Kathryn asked for volunteers, I hopped up and down with my hand high in the air, shouting “Pick me! Pick me!”.

Yes.  Really.  I regressed to the age of 5. No filter.  No delay loop.

Everyone else took a silent step back and just stared.  I was selected.  That elicited a loud “Woo Hoo!” from me.  More silence.  Meh.  I got picked!

I was up last.  I was rather apprehensive as I am quite (understatement!) claustrophobic and the immersive headset could have triggered all sorts of unfortunate reactions.  To mitigate the risk to me and the other people in the room, they have an intern ready to catch you should you give in to an overwhelming urge to run away or lash out.  Fortunately, I stayed on my assigned spot and started to saw down the tree.  I took a moment to look around and check out the trees and birds.  My virtual arms were rather manly.  As the tree fell I followed it down and felt the floor shake as it hit the ground.  After the tree fell, I took another look at my manly arms.  They ended in a stub at the shoulders.  This caused agonized shouts from the researchers as my gaze had “broken the reality”.  Oops.

Good times.

Lisa.