60 Before 60 Project: #3 - Conquering My Fear in Virtual Reality - From 27 Stories High

Have you tried virtual reality?

If you’re not familiar with what this is, it’s a technology that allows a person to be fully immersed into a 3D computer generated world. By wearing a headset or goggles, the person feels that they are actually in and participating in this computer constructed environment.

You may want to take note of this technology as this industry is expanding – and fast.

Statista reported the “…industry is growing at a fast pace, with the global VR market size projected to increase from less than 12 billion U.S. dollars in 2022 to more than 22 billion U.S. dollars by 2025.”

The planned use of this technology is extensive.

Gaming, learning, healthcare and retail are just some examples of industries where it’s being used. If you’re interested in how it’s being used – check out these 23 industries and what they are doing here.

Now to get back to why this is on my 60 before 60 project list.

I have tried this technology before and the last time I did, I tried a game in which you walk down a plank outside of a 27 high story building. When I did it, I could only take 2 steps down the plank and then had to take the headset off. I was just too scared to continue.

This always bothered me.

I couldn’t believe that a technology could trick me into believing something that wasn’t actually real (that’s how good this tech is). I wanted to try it again and this time I wanted to walk to the end of the plank and jump off.

As embarrassing as it is, in the following clip you can see me walk the plank and step off. You’ll notice (probably by my screams) how real it felt to me. I kept telling myself it was all in my head but my body was saying something else altogether.

I wanted to share this experience with you for a couple of reasons.

First, I wanted you to see how believable this technology is and how well it can fool your brain. I knew I was standing in the middle of a room, but I really felt like I was standing 27 stories up.

As well, I wanted share with you this emerging technology and its possible potential as the list of opportunities for this technology is endless. In fact, Mark Zuckerberg (the founder of Facebook) has invested $15B in the metaverse because he believes so strongly in the potential of this space.

It's quite amazing some of things that could be done in virtual reality.

Practicing surgeries in virtual reality before doing it on a real person, trying on clothes before you buy them, going on a tour of a city, job training – it goes on and on. Simply put, anything we do in real life could potentially move to a virtual world.

I also think as soon as they get the headsets into something as easy on putting on a pair of glasses this is going to really take off.

The other thing I anticipate is that virtual reality could be riddled with potential challenges too. We don’t want to replace the human connection with a technology connection but given the reality this virtual world offers, would we even know or feel the difference?

All this to say – this new virtual world is coming and quickly. If you get the chance, give it a try. It truly is a mind blowing experience.

My 60 Before 60 Lesson: Often the fear we feel is more than the actual reality.

Check Out My 60 Before 60 Project: I Go to a Light Show

On her 59th birthday, Booming Encore's Founder - Susan Williams took a look back over the past couple of years and realized that her life needed a bit of a shake up. So she decided to do 60 different things before she turns 60 next year. She shares her progress and experiences for her 60 Before 60 Project.