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December 28, 2012 By News Staff
Answer: virtual body technology
Have you ever been on the ride Soarin' Over California in Disney's California Adventure theme park? The one where you fly over San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge, Redwood Creek in Humboldt County, and the Camarillo orange groves (and many other Golden State locations), and you smell the sea, the pines and the citrus?
Well such an experience has been taken to the next level -- the Tokyo Metropolitan University Graduate School of System Design's Ikei Laboratory is developing “virtual body technology” that claims to "use all five senses to provide a virtual experience akin to inhabiting another person’s body,: Gizmag reports.
The system, according to Gizmag, consists of a 3D monitor, headphones, a fan for breezes and odors, a chair that leans back and forth and vibrates, and foot pedals to provide a sensation of walking and running. How taste factors into the experience isn't yet clear.
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Examine the film Brainstorm. This was the inspiration for virtual reality work. Netflix does not rent it (last I checked). I own a copy and loan it to friends. One colleague called it a geek wet dream (it does have a point). It was Natalie Wood's last film (she died just before ending filming of it).
Brainstorm was an excellent flick. Christopher Walken also starred.