(Alt)Space(X)(VR)
As of this writing in early 2017, Virtual Reality remains in technological limbo. Though many people have tried their hand at VR either through conventions or public exhibitions, we’ve yet to reach widespread domestic usage. Due to this mid-stream status, referring to in-home VR with weighty and Freeman-esque, futuristic terms has begun to sound forced since headsets have been and continue to be available to anyone either willing to settle for mobile VR or take a punishing blow to the ol’ credit rating. In order to justify this flamboyant tone, we might put VR in the context of associate technological achievement. A theme now being paired with VR that continually lends itself to awe inspiring rhetoric is that of the most Final Frontier, outer space.
At least one company has plans to launch 360 degree cameras into space so they might transmit images back to Earth which will give subscribing VR users the experience of floating above the atmosphere like a wayward piece of space debris. In June 2017, SpaceVR is sending the world’s first Virtual Reality Satellite to the International Space Station on a SpaceX rocket and, from there, it will be sent into orbit around the planet. Alone, sending this 360 camera into space would be momentous, but SpaceVR claims ambitions beyond circling the Earth; their goal is to deploy these satellites throughout the solar system, much like an extra-planetary CCTV. For those wanting to support this venture, yearly or lifetime subscriptions are available for purchase now.
I did mention SpaceX, so it’s worth noting that the privately funded space exploration giant is back in business with its successful launch of the Falcon 9. The rocket went into low Earth orbit and landed neatly on landing pad at sea. It was a big step forward in humanity’s endeavor to see/inhabit the further reaches of space and, as such, it should be celebrated. That is why everyone’s preferred social VR platform AltspaceVR turned out for the event, hosting a launch viewing party in VR for their new and returning patrons.
There are two main components to an Altspace broadcast event, the display screen and the other people, but the beauty of Altspace is that they curate their environments based on the events’ theme. This allows for a fuller experience since we’ve been offered more than just a screen and it offers conversation pieces to be used as ice breakers among unknown avatars.
Our viewing party took place in a fabulous high-rise apartment in what I call Altspace City. In the loft, I found a small educational gallery of posters on the governing scientific principles of hurling a rocket from Earth, including The Tsiolkovsky Rocket Equation which relates to how rockets discharge some of their obsolete parts during liftoff to maintain velocity, I think. The upper balcony had a scale model of the Falcon 9 that could be vertically (up and down) controlled by the Altspacers. One corner of the apartment had an orb where avatars could pass through and find themselves surrounded by a Martian environment.
In the minutes before launch, I wandered to each aforementioned site, taking selfies and sharing banalities with the other visitors along the way. I found a wall of astronaut photos with short bios beside each. Nearby was an L-shaped sofa and fireplace where I took advantage of the Vive functionality by sticking my robotic hand into the flame and telling a nearby avatar that I was trying to melt myself down. He didn’t laugh, so I tried the joke with two more people just to be sure it wasn’t funny. A few avatars in the apartment were face downwards, seated on or sucked into the floor, and a robot with purple lights was stealthily massaging their scalps and shoulders to lift their spirits. At the Martian orb, I met a woman from Los Angeles and we shared our appreciation for the vandalized (or perhaps augmented) HOLLYWEED sign.
The moments before the launch were surprisingly tense and I felt a sudden flood of goodwill towards the crew as the countdown began. I applauded with ground control as they met each milestones if only by waving my controllers in the air with others. When the cheers died down, some stayed to chat about the event while others found a new one. Now that it’s done and we’ve emerged victorious, we may look onward, towards dreams of Mars, wondering when we’ll go and if we can bring VR headsets on the shuttle.
