I would like to tell you about my fabulous experience of stargazer in the International Spatial Station through virtual reality. No worries, it wasn’t in the “real life”! But for me, that was an incredible immersion! It was a kind of adventure also for my body; therefore I’m going to explain further.

THE CONDITIONS OF MY VIRTUAL REALITY EXPERIENCE

As a first step, I have been fortunate to experiment virtual reality as part of my studies program, within the MBA DMB – Digital Marketing and Business at ESSCA Shanghai. For this experimentation I was fitted of a six dimensions free equipment, compounded of one visual headset, two hand consoles and three area sensors. That is the state-in-the-art technology in virtual reality world. Thank you to the CEO of SIM One, in addition our professor and mentor. Without him, nothing would have happened!

BE IN A HOUSE IN VIRTUAL REALITY

First and foremost, I began my virtual reality experience with a basic environment. I am in a house with a garden. Inside the house, I can walk in a room, I can take things on shelves, and I can make these things bigger or smaller and throw out them in the room. I can change pieces of furniture: living room, office desk, and bedroom … Then, in the garden I can see a breath-taking view on mountains and look at birds and butterflies into the sky. I was afraid of hitting myself into the walls but it’s absolutely impossible because virtual walls informed users through physical sensors when safe limits are reached. Very impressive first step!

A CREATIVITY EXPERIENCE IN VIRTUAL REALITY

Secondly, I continued my virtual reality adventure by doing a workshop of creativity. I decided to design a fairy dress. I was able to draw with my right hand and change configurations with my left hand through a toolbox. When you are designing stuff, you have to use the 3D dimensions to build things, as if you were carving a sculpture in the real world. Tools are so intuitive and friendly to use. I can stay in my virtual studio for hours and don’t even be aware of time spent. It’s very easy to express creativity and after that the only limit is my imagination!

INTERNATIONAL SPATIAL STATION LIFE IN VIRTUAL REALITY

Lastly but, however the most unbelievable, I have been in the International Spatial Station through a special virtual reality program. The spatial adventure began in a depressurized chamber where I have to hook my security cable for going out of the ISS. It’s a complicated exercise because the astronaut’s outfit disrupt the user’s field of view similarly the real conditions. At this moment I can open the capsule, I can see this awesome view on Earth and it seems really true. After that, I have to catch handles and trailer me to a viewpoint on the Blue Planet. Then, the ISS moved around my position. WOUAH! What I’m seeing is so huge, but I feel my body reacting strangely… my brain is being duped by virtual reality. For it, I’m in a stressful situation, in other words my body sweating, and I’m feeling sickness. That was the “funny” part!

In conclusion, this experience showed to me all available options that virtual reality can offered us. It’s more than a simple game. Soon we will be able to build programs, which give us close reality sensations. This technology is available for so many sectors: medical, military, tourism, engineering and retail to make training, formation, project pre-view, awareness. It’s just the beginning!