This is how lunches will look when people eat together but go to different places in their virtual reality.
And you thought people looking at their phones was bad. . . . .
Wow…nerdy!
I don’t know whether to laugh or cry…
1 Like
Depends on whether that might be you in the future.
I’ve seen more and more older people talking about VR. I heard they have a seniors group on there.
1 Like
That will definitely not be me, I say that with the utmost conviction.
I have other plans!
Behold my guru!
1 Like
Unless the virtual world they each were immersed in had a plate of food on a table in front of them, with the same set up as the the scene in the real world, I don’t see how they could eat their dinner and be running the virtual reality programme at the same time - not without making a bit of a mess, anyway!
I have only tried a Virtual Reality experience once.
I sat on a swivel chair in an old Church and the VR headset took me to the bedroom in one of Van Gogh’s famous paintings - suddenly the chair I was sitting on sent me flying across the room, through the doorway and hurtling down a staircase and through a door at the bottom - that was very scary - it felt like it was really happening and I could feel my heart racing.
Once through that door, I was in the most beautiful world, walking through fields of sunflowers and all the other scenes in Van Gogh’s paintings, cleverly joined together, with a lovely soundtrack to fit the background noises of the scenes I was walking through.
It felt quite magical, as if I was really there - back in the real world, my chair must have been swivelling round and round as I kept turning to look all around me - I kept looking back too, to check the scene I’d just walked through was still there and it was, all in perspective.
It was a bit of a disorientating feeling, though - I could not visualise what had been around the chair I was sitting on back in the real world while I was travelling through the virtual world - no way could I have managed to eat a meal or even worked out where I had placed my bottle of water to take a sip from it.
When the session ended and I removed the headset, the lady in charge of the exhibition told me that my feet had been moving during the whole session, as if I had been walking along those paths!
2 Likes
Sounds fun! 
I just watched a video of a couple people wearing a VR headset and driving a Tesla car. I can’t find it again. Not sure how they did it, but your post reminded me of that. I wonder how they did it.
That looks like fun, I’d love to have people over for supper and do that with friends and family a long way away joining in from afar
1 Like
I think it would be more fun if everyone at the table went to the same place in VR. They could be interacting with the same people in a virtual world while they ignored each other in the real one.
1 Like
It would be fun, wouldn’t it? I’m think full English breakfast on the moon🤣
1 Like
But would you be eating a real breakfast or would you be eating virtual food?
I can see how tucking into a virtual meal may help satisfy a few cravings if one is not allowed to have certain foods for health / allergy reasons in real life or is on a calories controlled diet! 
I’ve been trying to get my head around how you can eat a real meal whilst wearing a VR headset - I can’t get my head around that bit.
I’ve just been looking up some info about VR and found this article about VR and food -
“One of the most interesting applications of VR for the food and drink industry is the creation of culinary experiences, currently championed by Project Nourished. By using advanced technology, the LA-based company is able to recreate the experience of eating by hacking vision, gustation, olfaction, audition and touch thus tricking people’s senses into believing that the “faux” food they’re eating is a gourmet meal. It works by incorporating an aromatic diffuser, VR headset, a bone conduction transducer (the device which mimics the chewing sounds that are transmitted from the diner’s mouth to the ear drums via soft tissues and bones), a gyroscopic utensil, and 3D printed, tasteless food. Essentially, diners will be able to enjoy any meal they wish in any location they desire, such as sushi in Japan or a steak in Argentina.“
The article has lots more info about the different food-related developments in VR, such as a VR menu so diners can see the different meal options on the table in front of them before deciding which meal to order - the restaurant can add accompanying drinks and side dishes to the VR image, to upsell other products - that application reminds me of the picture Menus we see outside every restaurant along the beach in some tourist holiday resorts!
2 Likes
I explored the Lascaux caves and paintings in VR at the Bristol museum. It was incredible, just like walking through the caves, there was even a bit where you could dip your virtual finger in virtual paint and do your own cave painting on a virtual cave wall!
2 Likes
I was wondering whether the technology was close to production. The article was from 2017. There hasn’t been any current projects since 2020. It doesn’t look promising unless they took it in a different direction than this project.
I wonder how close something like this is to happening in VR.
Wow, that might be good for slimming diets!
But maybe a step too far for me, I wasn’t thinking pretend food!
I was thinking more like these mixed reality environments where your own hands and plate of food are projected into the virtual world your visiting ( I’m guessing by some sort of extra camera?)
I’m sure if they develop it it will get a lot more sophisticated
If friends and family around the world prepared a meal at the same time, you could all sit down together and eat in a virtual world, anywhere you fancied
Or with AI, you could create and dine with virtual dinner guests 
2 Likes
Ah, Right - I see how it can work after reading that - I’m a bit slow to catch on sometimes! 
I must admit, I didn’t notice the date of the article - it’s all stuff I’ve never heard of before so I presumed it was only just in development stages.
I wouldn’t mind trying a few more VR travel experiences - it would cheer me up on a wet, windy day - but I’m not much of a foodie in real life, so although I’d give it a go if I was offered the opportunity, a virtual gastronomic experience wouldn’t be top of my list of things I’d want to do.
1 Like
Thanks for this. It’s a wet windy day here. I’ve been looking into getting VR since the new Meta Quest version 3 was released. Version 2 went down in price a bit. Now I have one more reason to get it. It might be nice on a day like today. 
Oooh, do let us know what you think of it if you get one - it would be lovely to read some descriptions of your VR travel experiences - I could visualise it in my own inbuilt system of VR, then - also known as “daydreaming” !
I remember when our office was being renovated, we had a Feng Shui adviser in to plan where all our desks would be placed, according to her assessment of our personality traits etc
A lot of my colleagues had desks facing pictures of particular images that would capture their imagination and inspire them.
My desk was beside the window and the only wall next to me was a plain painted wall with no pictures. When I mentioned this, she said
“I think you already have enough images in your vivid imagination - I placed your desk there because you need a window onto Reality!”
As I was known in the office for writing daft stories about a little bear which sat on my office desk, that made us all laugh! 
1 Like