Sunday, November 16, 2008

VIRTUAL TRIP: Destination Unknown

Sunny white-sand beaches, tropical palm trees, the smell of the ocean salt wafting towards me with the afternoon breeze, and the gentle lullaby of the waves meeting the pristine shoreline. Ahhh, a low-tech tropical vacation! What could be better?

Virtual trips? How could they compare? In today's technological standards, the reproduction of the touch and taste components of a trip could not be duplicated, in my opinion. However, the visual aspects could, as well as the audible and (maybe not the way I want it too) olfactory sensations.

But why would I want to go to, say, Hawaii on my computer? Maybe to check out the beaches, look at the hotel rooms, save the time and discomfort of flying there?

Then I expanded my list of destinations. If I were to take a high-tech, virtual trip, I personally wouldn't go anywhere I could do low-tech. It would be somewhere you couldn't go low-tech (or it would just be darn uncomfortable). That's when the list got larger: pre-historic Earth, the center of the planet, other planets, inside a volcano, the North Pole, Santa's workshop, the surface of the moon, the list goes on!

I don't think one particular destination would interest me, it would be moreso the expanse of all the imaginary and impossible destinations you could program! I mean click here click there you could jump from watching elves make toys for Christmas to the surface of the Sun.

Virtual trips would be a great way to explore the past or our imagined future. It could become the interactive storybook, the catalyst for keeping our dreams alive, that many think about. (Time for a start-up company!!)

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