OUT OF SEQUENCE
VISITING NEW BRAUNFELS AND EXPERIENCING VIRTUAL REALITY
New Braunfels was on our way to the campground so we stopped to see Terry’s brother Joe and family. We dropped off family pictures and both got to try a Virtual Reality (VR) system. Joe’s son Colorado was very patient with us, walking Peggy through the training and Terry through an easy car assembly game.
Visiting family
Colorado showing us how he uses his VR system.
To start the VR experience, they mark the edges of your walking area, which in this case was most of the bedroom. Then you put on a headset that completely covers your eyes. It’s like wearing a big personal TV screen. You put on headphones so you can hear the tutorial or game. In each hand, you pick up and hold controllers. These are your “hands”. The controller has buttons, a touch pad and a trigger. The trigger can be used as if you are shooting something but it can also be used to cause your “hand” to grip something. You press the trigger to grip something with your hand or release the trigger to open your hand. Colorado also had a fan/air conditioner that blew on you while you played. It helped me keep from being disoriented. Before picking up the controllers, not being able to see my hands was disorienting.
Having the VR visor on but without the hand controllers is very disorienting. It's like not having any hands! A very strange feeling. Having the AC fan blowing on me helped keep me from getting sick.
Terry working hard trying to fix problems with cars. Sometimes he poured the oil in the wrong place, dumping it on the floor!
I thought VR games would be very expensive but we were told they ranged from $5-60, with an average of about $30. That’s less than I thought they’d be. Also, one of the games he had was a global game. You could go anywhere in the world and experience going there as if you really were there! Can you imagine how this could be used for the disabled or people who are confined but love to travel?!?! It could also be used to teach history, geography and politics! I heard they were starting to use it to train people on various tasks. Pretty neat!