Posted on 04/25/2014 3:42:53 PM PDT by null and void
Oculus Rift's prospect of credible virtual reality opens the door for many forms of therapy
Once heralded as the Messiah of virtual reality, but now a topic of controversy, the Oculus Rift is sure to induce intense emotion one way or another. After a long battle with cancer left Priscilla Firstenberg’s grandma physically disabled, the video game artist turned to Oculus VR, producer of the Rift, for one last shot at helping the older woman venture outside.
Grandma Roberta Firstenberg’s body no longer responded to chemotherapy and radiation therapy, leaving her with one to two months left to live. It was around this time that Priscilla moved in to help comfort and take care of her. Then, one day while debating the merits of the Oculus Rift with colleagues, Priscilla was inspired, suddenly realizing that the Oculus Rift could offer her grandmother some psychological therapy.
A determined Priscilla e-mailed Oculus’ Customer Service department, hoping for the best, but expecting the worst. To her complete and utter surprise, Oculus’ Customer Service Lead responded within a day stating, “I’ll work to get one of these Rifts out the door to you today if I can. Please provide me your address, city, state, and zip. I’ll take care of the rest.” Priscilla’s status and dedication to the game industry entitled her to one of the dev units commonly loaned to game developers.
The unit arrived a short time later, loaded with a demo featuring a seaside in Tuscany, villa and all. “I can’t believe it, I mean, you hear about things, and you think you’re prepared for it, but it’s like dropping straight down into a mirage! It’s beautiful, awe-inspiring. Honey this is fantastic…” exclaimed the awe-stricken grandma. Exploring the villa, she can’t help but notice her newfound virtual mobility: “The stairs! I can climb stairs! Normally when I climb stairs it’s a struggle, but in this you just take off and glide.” Clips from her experience can be viewed below.
[video]
Roberta Firstenberg passed away four weeks following her virtual adventure in Tuscany. Her experience with the device may be ahead of its time, but nascent demonstrations such as these are what foster the credibility needed to explore all implications of virtual reality, not just entertainment.
“You could be in pain, like I am in pain, but somehow, when you see a blue butterfly reach out and kiss you, it makes you realize that we are all part of this world, and it’s very precious to us,” reflected Roberta.
Via The Rift Arcade
They know something.
According to family lore, my grandfather checked out the prices on the Titanic but couldn’t afford it. He left on a different ship around the same time as the Titanic and supposedly passed it on the way. He claimed all the lights were blazing and the ship was making a leisurely voyage at the time. I guess it was good that he was dirt poor when he left England, lol.
[ If only the education professionals could be trusted to leave out their leftists biases — but they can’t. ]
That is why we can use technology to bypass them
What a nice thing for the company to do for this lady.
Yeah. That it was.
A bigger hit would be to experience the lives of hunter gatherer peoples, who not only enjoyed more leisure time than those of us who still have jobs, but also did 24/7 what they evolved to do, which meant they had much more fun than us.
this is how technology can help people.
How ironic, that she should be grateful for some toy manufactured by modern industry, which modern industry likely also generated the chemicals or radiation that eventually found their way into her body and gave her cancer.
I wonder who might eventually fall victim to the poisonous byproducts generated by the manufacturing of that toy.
Would not want to contradict your grandpad, but the usual notion is that the Titanic was trying to set a crossing record, and that this was a major contributor to its destruction. So it doesn't seem all that likely that it was poking along.
Ah...Beethovan's 6th...1st movement. I always think of Sol when I hear it.
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