I took a trip yesterday to a technology lab at Osaka University with one of the Center's classes to experience a virtual reality world known as the CAVE.
We arrived at the labs and were taken upstairs to a conference room for a pre-VR briefing. This briefing would last over two hours and put several of the Stanford students into a deep dream-less sleep. I managed to stay awake somehow or another. The only bonus about the conference room aside from the free green tea was the nifty microphone consoles that everyone had in front of them. You could press a button and have your voice projected through the in-room sound system. It felt like you were at the UN. Before the lecture I flipped my mic on and said, "I'd like to address Japan's concerns about nuclear testing in North Korea." Another guy flipped his on and said, "Russia will rise again, fear the rise of Russia!" Boys with toys, what can I say?
A professor from Osaka University eventually interrupted our goofiness and spoke in not-so competent English about grid technology and its implications for the future of high speed communication and human grid mapping. (
(Pardon me, this next line is for my roommate Bryce) I don’t know what grid technology is but I know I want me some - don't you want you some?
Anyways, the professor didn't bother to explain the crucial term. I asked Maho if she knew what grid technology was, because I figured she was once one of those Japanese super babies who made transistor radios in preschool, but she was as lost as I was.
I love lectures on technology where no one actually has a grasp of what the technology is or how it functions. The technology in question is always named something like grid, genome, or nano. These generalized names when inserted into normal speech patterns create the illusion of intelligence as demonstrated in the following examples; "Power up the grid matrix," or "The grid network is online, but the reverse gamma fluxgates aren't responding to initial sensory tests."
After the lecture we walked around the facilities and saw supercomputers (now pretty slow when compared to world standards). Next we headed towards the CAVE (dum dum duuuuuum)! The CAVE was actually a dark room with three screens arranged in a square formation. I initially wandered off in the wrong direction as the room was pitch black, and the lab helper had to fetch me and bring me back to the proper CAVE route. We took turns standing within the screen formation with 3D glasses on and saw flashing white lines and little blue dots fly towards our faces. The Muppets 3D show at Disneyland blows the pants off the CAVE. After a few minutes in the CAVE my eyes started to hurt so I asked the guy running the booth if he would graciously put an end to my virtual "fun."
Back in the conference room we had an awkward question and answer session in which none of the Stanford students had any questions they wanted answered. We sat in silence mostly, and every now and then would have an enlightening interaction between a Stanford student and the Osaka University professor like the following:
Student - "I was wondering, what does CAVE stand for?"
Prof - "Um...stand for?"
Student - "Yes, does CAVE have another meaning?"
Prof - "..." (cough)
<15 seconds of silence>
Student - "Because...um...like CIA is the CIA, but it also means Central Intelligence Agency...so I was just wondering...(student looks down and trails off)"
<15 seconds of silence>
Prof - "...CAVE is...CAVE."
Student - "...uh..."
Prof - (As if molding an invisible lump of clay with his hands) "CAVE is CAVE...with hole (poking the air with his finger)...CAVE."
Student - "Uh...ok...thank you" (student looks down at the table)
<15 seconds of silence>
Hayashi Sensei (the teacher of the Stanford Center class) - CAVE stands for "Center for Advanced Virtual Engineering."
It turns out that the CAVE program we saw was a simulation of human speech patterns and the little blue balls flying towards our face were something of great importance related to airflow. I'll call them “vectoids,” so as to sound intelligent in this blog post. As if to rub it in, the Osaka University professor made sure to note that they also had a virtual rollercoaster simulation as well as a virtual city demonstration where you could walk through the cyber town. Ah well, vectoids are cooler than a virtual rollercoaster any day when you stop and think about it...yeah, I can’t even convince myself.
All in all, a day filled with transportation for a very little payoff (luckily the center paid for all the trains). I soon returned to Kyoto and walked around downtown with Maho for hours until it was time for dinner. We met up with my friend Kevin and the three of us had dinner. After that, the three of us went down and sat by the Kamo River and had some beers and talked. Far superior to the virtual reality of the CAVE was the actual reality of sitting with good friends and enjoying a few beers underneath the stars.
Till next time,
B.E.W.
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