Introduction to The Infinite
The International Space Station hovered before me against a black, starry sky, a wide ranging sight that left me speechless. As I looked down, I could not see my feet, just the curved, blue shape of the Earth. I used to be only a couple of minutes into my tentative spacewalk after I was interrupted by a flash of red text across my screen: a staff member was attempting to talk over with me. Had I done something unsuitable already? It turned out that my virtual reality headset’s battery was running low and needed to be switched out.
The Experience
I used to be inside "The Infinite," a virtual reality experience in Tacoma, Washington, that transports you to outer space for a low price of $50. With my latest, fully powered headset equipped, I used to be back on the International Space Station, free to wander around and walk through partitions. Blue, floating orbs were spread across the realm, and after I reached my hand out to the touch one, the scenery would change, immersing me in 360-degree footage of each day life aboard the ISS. I watched astronauts gather around a table, eating bars of ambiguous space food, and looked over the shoulder of 1 staring out the window, admiring the view of Earth.
The Overview Effect
Astronauts say that seeing the planet from space for the primary time is usually a life-changing moment, filling you with awe, transcendence, and a way of cosmic connection. The Earth looks fragile, shielded from the hostility of space by only the skinny blue line of the atmosphere. The so-called "overview effect" may be weighted with responsibility, prompting many astronauts to advocate for environmental causes. Space tourism is now a thing, because of billionaires like Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson, and Elon Musk. However, real-life journeys into orbit are only accessible to astronauts, celebrities, and the super-rich.
The Technology
Experiences like "The Infinite" teleport people to outer space for a tiny fraction of the fee and pollution. Proponents of the overview effect say that its environmental effects could also be replicable on the bottom, no less than to a point. The technology, as mind-altering because it is, continues to be a ways off. It’s hard to lift off into transcendence when on-the-ground annoyances, comparable to low batteries and the burden of the VR headset, keep reminding you that you simply’re still on the bottom. You cannot force the overview effect, but you possibly can glimpse it, momentarily losing yourself and suspending disbelief.
Realistic Experience
On a scale of zero to outer space, "The Infinite" is about halfway there. Some reviewers declared that they had experienced the overview effect, and the exhibit is realistic enough that it reportedly brought a former member of the ISS to tears. The VR technology was impressive, with my first few steps into the exhibit feeling nerve-wracking, as if I would fall into the starry void at any moment. The footage, filmed over three years by astronauts aboard the ISS, gives you an intimate glimpse into life in orbit.
Environmental Insights
I got here across a couple of scenes in "The Infinite" that explored the environmental insights of living within the ISS. In one hallway, an astronaut said that many species were going extinct, and that if we weren’t careful, humans would go extinct too. Another looked out the round window of the domed cupola, gazing on the Earth and talking about how precious our planet is and the way necessary it was to maintain it. From the vantage point of the ISS, the signs of climate change are already visible. Astronauts have gazed down upon green mountains that was once covered with snow and ice.
Conclusion
Looking back at Earth in my VR-induced daze, I used to be struck by the identical feeling I get gazing up at the celebs on a transparent night, seeing the faint bands of the Milky Way smeared across the sky: bewildered by the scale of the universe and the way small I’m as compared. The trip to "The Infinite" was an exercise in possibility, making me wonder why we might arrange our lives and construct up this world in a way that harms the planet. For a moment, the present terrifying state of the world didn’t feel so inevitable. It’s a shift in perspective, even when it isn’t quite as mind-blowing as actually being in space. As I walked out of the exhibit, I used to be greeted by the smell of automobile exhaust, a harsh reminder of the world we live in and the importance of caring for our planet.
