Lyle Becker got his first peek at virtual reality inside a secret lab at Intel’s campus in Hillsboro, Oregon.
The 100-year-old Becker embarked on his first adventure in VR, surrounded by friends, family, and Intel employees. Intel filmed the experience, and Becker appears to be having the time of his life. The video reminded me of the time I showed a VR headset to three grandmothers at a holiday party. It is easy to forget how transformative VR can be until you see someone try it for the first time and get blown away.
“Whoa, there’s a sky full of …,” Becker exclaimed, as he navigated the 3D space. “Oh boy.”
He went to the bottom of the ocean in an app dubbed theBlu: Encounter. He flew over the streets of Florence, Italy and around Devil’s Tower, using Google Earth VR. And he flew an Aerofly FS 2 single engine plane. In real life, Becker flew C42 commando planes in World War II. He also raised six children with his wife of 70 years and worked as an air traffic controller.
Reflecting on his VR experience, Becker said, “Yeah, this is good. Very good. That’s amazing.”
VR may be slow in meeting its business expectations, but as it gets better you can expect that we, along with Becker, are going to enjoy some mind-blowing stuff. But, as Becker noted, Intel and everybody else working on VR better hurry, as he doesn’t have all the time in the world to wait for it.