the bird on fire

How low can you go?

April 21, 2021 by szachik@pvs.org 1 Comment

Hannah had to do a bit of searching to find a world record she thought she could beat. After much looking, she found that a record was only five hours away.–World Records Editor Jake Sonderman

By Hannah Hall

As I was cruising the Guinness World Records, a specific record caught my attention: Highest Dinner Party. The record itself is a dinner party of ten hosted on April 30th, 2018, on Mt. Everest in China. The dinner’s altitude was roughly 23,149 ft high! I thought this record was pretty difficult to beat, but it did open me up to the idea of something similar. I believe that I can hold the world record for the world’s lowest dinner party. There are a few ways that this could go down—pun intended.

As I was pitching this proposition to the Blog team, Erik mentioned the Mariana Trench. I thought maybe I could take a submarine and trek down to the bottom of it and have a dinner party there. But, the thing is, I feel like this record is supposed to be on some sort of land mass. The reason I am led to believe this is because, otherwise, the “highest dinner party” could occur on a plane. Don’t those things fly at like 40k feet high?? So, this thought in itself made me back out of the deep-sea feast.

As I was continuing to research the lowest places on Earth, I came across many land-based locations that were below sea level. I saw that I could go eat in Africa at the Qattara Depression which sits at 482 ft below sea level. This would require me to get on a plane all the way to Africa though, and that’s a lot of time spent, allowing, possibly, somebody else to break the record before me. Other problems include it only being the second lowest place in Africa and the fact it is unclear whether this point is below water or on land. So, I kept searching.

I then thought, I could just smack the record right in the face and go straight to the actual lowest place on Earth, the Dead Sea, located beside Jordan and Israel. The Dead Sea’s shore is roughly 1400 ft below sea level. And, a fact about the Dead Sea is that its water is receding at one meter per year, which is sad, but it just means more room for my dinner party. But, yet again, I am faced with the same plane-time dilemma. Again, the search went on; luckily, the perfect option appeared to me soon after.

I thought I could have the dinner party in our home state of California in Death Valley. Death Valley is actually the lowest point in America and has a depth of 282 ft below sea level. Interestingly enough, if I have a dinner party here, I would be beating two records: Lowest Dinner Party, and Lowest Dinner Party in America (and maybe Hottest Dinner Party). That in itself intrigues me. The ride over to Death Valley is roughly five hours. I think I could make it happen.

I hope that one day this record will be broken, whether or not it is by me. It is something cool to have in the books! At least, I will always know, I had the idea first.

World Records Editor: Jake Sonderman

Sources:

https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/highest-dinner-party

https://www.deadsea.com/articles-tips/places-below-sea-level-worlds-lowest-elevation-points/

https://earth.esa.int/web/earth-watching/image-of-the-week/content/-/article/the-dead-sea

The Lowest Point in Every U.S. State

Live Footage of Roman (almost?) Breaking World Records

April 21, 2021 by szachik@pvs.org 1 Comment

We often have high hopes in life. Roman, a professional eater, saw world records for saltine crackers and marshmallows and thought: “Easy!”–World Records Editor Jake Sonderman

By Roman Rickwood

The Saltine Cracker

When I started to research records I thought I could break, I searched for a very specific record–something to do with food.

When I first saw that the world record for most saltine crackers eaten in a minute was 12, I immediately assumed that I could beat that. I said to myself: “I eat saltine crackers all the time; this is going to be a breeze.” Well, it was not, I underestimated the power of the saltine cracker. As many know, saltine crackers are incredibly dry and salty. Most of the time, when someone eats them, they are eating them to calm their stomach. I like to eat them as a snack, and for that reason I thought it would be easy to eat 12, 13, or even 14 in a minute. It wasn’t, the fine print in this challenge was that water was not allowed. Without water, a build up of saltine crackers got stuck in my mouth, and I could not swallow them. I was shocked at this sensation, and at this point I knew that the saltine had won.

So, I moved on to . . .

The Marshmallow

The second record that I believed I could easily break was the record for most marshmallows eaten in a minute. The current record is 26. This record seemed average to me. It was one of those niche records where at first glance the number does not appear to be very impressive. Again, no water was allowed. When water is allowed, I have seen numbers thrown out as high as 80 marshmallows in a minute. I am a person who enjoys food. I also am considered a fast eater. I went into both challenges expecting to easily shatter the record; however, both times I was sorely mistaken. As you will see, the marshmallows went down much easier than the saltine crackers; however, because of the density and tension that the marshmallow has, it too created a build up, and I only ended up eating 18. I was 8 shy of the record.

Would I attempt this again?

No, plain and simple. I enjoy food. And, while I am a fast eater, I am not a speed eater. I am not cut out for it. The effects of attempting these challenges included me not eating dinner that night–a travesty, I know. However, in all seriousness, the saltine cracker challenge did leave little cuts in the roof off my mouth, and, because of that, it made eating not so enjoyable for about a day. Now, knowing what I know, I have respect for every world record, no matter how specific or crazy it might be. They are world records for a reason.

World Record Editor: Jake Sonderman

Congratulations, PVS Academic World Quest

April 21, 2021 by szachik@pvs.org 4 Comments

Left to Right: Jake Sonderman, Sara Habibipour, Coach Mrs. Coffey, Elizabeth Shay, and Evan Spry

For the first time in Palm Valley history, our high school Academic World Quest team won First Place out of eight other schools in the Coachella Valley. Team members included Jake Sonderman, Sara Habibipour, Elizabeth Shay, Evan Spry and Coach Andrea Coffey.

Although this would normally mean that they could go to Washington D.C., they competed virtually in the national Academic World Quest competition. Out of 105 teams across the United States, the Palm Valley team ranked 14th!

Academic World Quest is a competition about foreign affairs, international relations, and current events. Here are the topics that each member specialized in:

Jake: The Post-Pandemic Economy, Exploring Peace in a World of Conflict, India-Pakistan relations, China-Latin America relations, and the International Labor Organization.
Sara: Global Protests, U.S. Foreign Service in the 21st Century, Red Sea conflict, America’s approach to Artificial Intelligence, and Uzbekistan.
Elizabeth: Fraying Alliances, U.S. Foreign Service in the 21st Century, Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking, Philippines-US relations, and the International Labor Organization.
Evan: The Arab Spring: 10 years later, Climate Change, US-Northern Triangle relations, Exploring Peace in a World of Conflict, and Uzbekistan.

If this sounds interesting to you, consider joining World Quest next year!

Source: AWQ winner and thebirdonfire.org blogger Sara Habibipour.

How to Break any World Record

April 19, 2021 by szachik@pvs.org 4 Comments

When attempting to break a world record, Evan finds himself engulfed in an adventure leading him to Africa.–World Records Editor Jake Sonderman

By Evan Spry

Chapter 1

When Jake told us his theme would be “Records You Think You Can Break,” I first thought, “Great!…Another one of Jake’s dull-witted schemes, that he’s known for” because what easy record could any of us have a chance at beating that has not already been beaten? Surprisingly, everybody is constantly trying to break world records, which means the internet is stacked with “easy” records to break on sites like thrillist.com. This should mean I could just quickly pick one of these stupid tasks, beat the previous person’s accomplishment by the smallest amount possible, and also bring global recognition, glory, and, most likely, massive wealth to my name. Maybe pesky Jake actually had a good idea? Not the case! I was completely overwhelmed as soon as I saw the seemingly endless amount of equally-lame tasks I would have to endure.

These included time-based tasks like most jello eaten with chopsticks in a certain time, most t-shirts put on in a certain time, fastest placement of 24 cans in a fridge, and countless more. This is the type of task I had to eventually conquer, unless I wanted to stick a bunch of post-it notes on my face or actually exert physical excellence and ability, which is not happening/possible. The deal was sealed, as Albert Einstein would say, but I had to choose which time-based record I would need to break. This is way way harder than it sounds because I didn’t want to do most of the beatable options. I kept scrolling and scrolling the lists and soon the pages on Google. I thought all hope was lost, but luckily I found the perfect choice…

Chapter 2

“Fastest time to put a double-duvet cover on a bed”–I must be blessed because my very own uncle used to be a French-maid for 30 years, and I could just ask him to teach me the best tips and tricks to master a “double-duvet,” whatever that is?

↙

Now, I just needed to contact my uncle, which was going to be more difficult than I expected. I had no idea how hard the pandemic hit him and how he had to return back to high-profile maiding at exclusive hotels around the globe. Turns out, they need his expertise back out in the field since hotels are reopening. When I called my uncle, the signal was super choppy and he said something about how he was at a “non disclosable offsite undisclosed location.” I tried calling him after he cut out, but I got no response. My plan was foiled to the core, and I couldn’t do anything about it. My uncle could be anywhere, and I doubt he was coming back anytime soon. I was devastated beyond human comprehension, and nothing could make me feel better.

Chapter 3

As a last ditch effort before I completely gave up, I booted up my computer and went searching for a new record. As I foraged through the backlogs and back alleys of the web, I stumbled upon something that could replenish my chances at breaking a world record. There was a website called ezcheatworldrecbreaker.com; it would be unethical to cheat at record breaking, but I would have to because I needed to reap the rewards of breaking a world record. I was scrolling through the very simply-put-together website but couldn’t really read most of the text because it was in Russian; anyways the writing I could read was outlining a cool-looking futuristic design of some sort of machine.

When I looked closer, I realized that it was a crane that grabbed and placed t-shirts onto a human body at a rapid speed. When I went to click the picture of the schematic, a pop-up appeared that asked if I would allow the site to access my location. I knew that if there was any chance I could order one of these machines, it would need my location for shipping and handling. I clicked “allow” and was immediately greeted with downloads loading and running at the bottom right of my screen. Thank the lord though, I was also greeted with a bunch of messages that exclaimed to me that he was a Nigerien prince, which according to him is way different than a Nigerian prince–you know the princes that go online and trick people that they are going to actually share their wealth. Anyways, the Nigerien prince told me his name was Quincy and that he knew the inventor of the shirt-placing crane.

Chapter 4

Unfortunately, Quincy told me that the only way he could get his hands on a machine for me is if I either flew out to South Sudan to receive an important machine part or send him 500 dollars via Paypal. Since I don’t have 500 dollars to send him through Paypal, I packed a suitcase with a couple changes of clothes and 5,000 dollars cash in case I needed to pay for things while I was there. I then bought the first ticket I could to Addis Ababa International in neighboring Ethiopia because I don’t think you can fly into South Sudan, but also Ethiopia’s capital has an epic name. Anyways, my flight is tomorrow, and I’m super excited to meet Quincy in person and secure the device that will change my life forever. Wish me luck!

World Records Editor: Jake Sonderman

Sources:

https://www.thrillist.com/gear/17-easy-to-break-world-records

https://www.google.com/search?q=grey+double+duvet+covers&tbm=isch&rlz=1CAVARX_enUS942&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiI3O6bjPjvAhWWhZ4KHcIVCdMQrNwCKAJ6BQgBEKoC&biw=1920&bih=961#imgrc=fLjLUawutLKudM

Sleeping Beauty

April 16, 2021 by szachik@pvs.org 1 Comment

There are many World Records. One that all of us would probably want to attempt, but that is deceptively hard, is the longest time spent asleep. In this brief article, Erik Bearman lays out how he plans to do so.–World Records Editor Jake Sonderman

By Erik Bearman

I think I speak for all Palm Valley seniors when I say: “We need more sleep.” Health class has taught us that the average person needs 8-9 hours of sleep per night in order to stay healthy. However, I’m willing to bet that a lot of us get somewhere between 5-7 hours of sleep at most.

I think if anyone has gotten enough rest, it’s hypnotist and British personality Peter Powers. Actually, I think he takes the cake. Because Peter Powers once stayed asleep for eight days straight!

As of now, Peter Powers’s record has yet to be broken. But, that doesn’t mean it never will be. I am willing to step up and attempt to break this record.

First, I will pay a doctor to attach an IV to my arm. The IV will allow necessary nutrients to enter my body without the need to wake up. Next, I will confine myself to a room constructed of solid, soundproof walls so no sounds can wake me. I would also lower the temperature and wrap myself in warm bedding.

My biggest concern is finding the energy (or lack thereof) to stay asleep. My solution? I would actually have to stay awake as long as possible and physically exhaust my body until I have no choice but to fall asleep. Only then do I have a shot at beating the world record for longest time spent sleeping!

I’ve always wondered what it would be like to break a world record. I don’t think I can eat over a dozen hotdogs in a minute or run a cross country marathon. But, the prospect of breaking a record while simultaneously getting some much needed sleep gives me hope that one day, maybe, I will break a world record.

World Records Editor: Jake Sonderman

Sources

https://napcloud.in/the-sleeper-is-a-keeper-world-records-for-mattresses-and-sleeping/

I Love Feta Cheese

April 16, 2021 by szachik@pvs.org 4 Comments

Sara Habibipour has a thing for feta. She is convinced that, if Guinness is on board, she can use feta cheese on more things than anyone else.–World Records Editor Jake Sonderman

By Sara Habibipour

If you couldn’t tell by the title, I love feta cheese. Besides being so delectable, feta cheese has many health benefits: it’s a great source of calcium; it’s great for gut health; it’s low calorie and low fat; and it’s a great source of Vitamin B. Also, it has such a fun name (especially when you say it fast).

Feta cheese is mostly used in Mediterranean cuisine, but I’d argue that feta cheese can be put on anything, and it can be eaten with any meal. In fact, I think I could beat the world record of “most use of feta cheese.” Guiness Book of World Records, if you ever decide to make that a thing, I’m your gal.

I eat feta at least once a day with dinner. Sometimes, I eat it as a snack. I recommend buying the “Athenos” brand from the store; it’s not too tangy like some other feta cheese.

Here’s some of the things I eat feta cheese with:

Tortilla and Pecans

If I’m kind of hungry, but it’s too late to eat something heavy, I put feta cheese and pecans in a little tortilla and eat that. It’s very light and tastes great!

Salad

Ranch dressing and feta cheese go very well together on top of lettuce. I highly recommend it!

Fruit

I have very fond memories of eating feta cheese with watermelon on warm, summer afternoons with my dad. I love the sweet and salty combination.

Pizza

I recently went to Bill’s Pizza in Palm Springs, and they had pizza with feta cheese as a topping! I was very excited, so, of course, I got a slice of that. It was very good. 10 out of 10.

Omelets

I went to a hotel a couple summers ago, and, in the hotel restaurant, they were serving omelets with spinach, mushrooms, and feta cheese. I thoroughly enjoyed that meal! I don’t eat eggs that often, but I really should eat it with feta cheese more!

Pasta

There was a pretty recent TikTok trend where people were making “Feta Pasta.” According to the videos I’ve seen, you just put pasta in a pan with feta cheese and tomatoes then put it in the oven. I haven’t personally tried it, but trust me when I say it’s on my To-Do list!

As you can see, there are so many ways to eat feta cheese. I encourage you to eat more of it! Maybe then, you and I can compete for the world record of the person to eat the most feta cheese.

World Records Editor: Jake Sonderman

Massive Mochi

April 14, 2021 by szachik@pvs.org Leave a Comment

Keeping consistent with her love of writing about food, blogger Elizabeth Shay writes about cooking the world’s largest mochi to begin this week’s theme of “World Records You Think You Could Break.”–Theme Editor Jake Sonderman

By Elizabeth Shay

From colossal pizzas to humongous cups of coffee, my favorite World Records involve supersized foods and drinks. Breaking such records requires a lot of time, money, and creative thinking. Instead of trying to create a 10,000 foot sushi roll, I think that I could set the bar for the world’s largest mochi, which has not yet been recognized!

Record Requirements

As of 2011, Guinness created the policy that all giant foods or records that involve large amounts of food must be either donated, consumed, or sold for consumption for the record to be recognised as official (todayifoundout). This segues into the next stipulation that giant foods must be edible and generally resemble the original food or drink that it is modeled after.

What is Mochi?

Mochi is a Japanese rice cake made of mochigome (a short-grain glutinous rice), water, sugar, potato starch or cornstarch, and sometimes flavorings. Mochigome is made into flours called Shiratamako or Mochiko, which differ in texture and processing methods (Wikipedia). Mochi is a very important food in Japanese culture and is tied to the importance of the staple crop–rice–as well as the practice of thanking the Shinto gods for a bountiful harvest. Mochi is known for its sticky, stretchy, soft, and chewy texture; it can be used in both sweet and savory dishes. There are 16 common types of mochi, including mochi ice cream which has become popular in the United States (byfood).

How is Mochi made?

The process of making mochi at home today is simple. It can be done in a microwave using only three main ingredients for the most basic mochi. The Shiratamako and Mochiko flours are sold in stores, so you don’t have to worry about grinding rice at home.

Whisk together the sweet rice flour with water to form a smooth batter.
Then strain the mixture and whisk sugar into the strained batter.
Next, microwave it for three minutes, mix, and return it to the microwave for another two minutes.
After stirring once again, you should have a smooth and shiny dough. Line a flat surface with parchment paper and generously sprinkle potato starch or cornstarch on it.
Scrape the still warm dough onto the surface, and cut it into the desired size with a starch-dusted knife.
Finally, shape the dough into the desired shape and serve warm or chilled for 20 minutes (Masterclass).

This is the most basic recipe. Mochi can be enhanced by adding flavors and fillings such as green tea or red bean paste.

Beating (setting) the Record

As of right now, there has not been an internationally recognized giant mochi. Compared to other foods with many ingredients, mochi is actually a very cost effective supersized food creation to attempt. I would likely create large batches of dough and combine them, rather than trying to attempt it all at once. If I had access to more money and factory or industrial facilities and equipment, this task would be much easier! With my limited resources, I predict that I could begin by setting the record with a humble five-foot mochi. This would be easily broken, but I think that it would be fun to try!

What giant food record do you want to set or break?

World Records You Think You Could Break Editor: Jake Sonderman

Sources:

http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2016/07/happens-big-food-made-break-world-records/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mochi

https://www.byfood.com/blog/travel-tips/the-beginners-guide-to-mochi

https://www.masterclass.com/articles/mochi-recipe#sweet-japanese-mochi-recipe

Multiverse Theory–Is There More Than One Evan?

April 14, 2021 by szachik@pvs.org Leave a Comment

I think we can all agree the universe is undeniably large. Blogger Evan explores the question of “How big is the universe?” by explaining the multiverse theory.–Alternate Realities Editor Hannah Hall

By Evan Spry

Possibly the hardest question scientists and astronomers have to answer right now is, “How big is the universe?” This is such a difficult question to answer because it is nearly impossible to determine and there are different theories about the nature of our universe. One theory is that the universe is super big but finite, and the other theory is that the universe is infinitely big and ever expanding. If you ask me, the second theory is way cooler and more thought-provoking because it fosters deeper ideas like the multiverse theory, where there are an infinite amount of parallel universes coexisting at the same time.

What is a multiverse?

A multiverse is the blanket term for the hypothetical group of multiple universes that would exist if our universe was infinite. The reason a multiverse would exist is because if the universe was infinitely big, there would have to be a repeat in the formation of matter at some point because there are only a certain number of combinations space could be made up of. If this sounds confusing, physicist Brian Greene has an analogy, “Think of the universe like a deck of cards. Now, if you shuffle that deck, there’s just so many orderings that can happen. If you shuffle that deck enough times, the orders will have to repeat” (npr.org). So if we do live in a multiverse, that means that there would be another universe, however far away, that would be almost identical to our universe. This means that there could be other versions of ourselves living out their lives as we speak!

Stephen Hawking

One name recognized highly by everyone in the scientific community is Stephen Hawking. This is because of the countless scientific honors and awards he’s received over the years. In his last paper before his death, Hawking famously mentioned the existence of the multiverse saying, “We are not down to a single, unique universe, but our findings imply a significant reduction of the multiverse to a much smaller range of possible universes” (space.com). Ever since the 80s, Hawking has been teaming up with other scientists to find the secrets of the universe. It was in these studies that the Hawking-Hartle idea was introduced. This idea described how the universe formed after the Big Bang. Within this theory, more questions arose. Hawking and Hartle had implied that with the creation of the universe, there would have to be an infinite amount of other universes.

In conclusion, there could be another copy of you somewhere else far away in the universe. However, we unfortunately won’t be able to solve this problem any time soon because of the technological achievements we’d have to accomplish before then. I think this is an awesome theory, and I would like to believe that there are an infinite number of Evans running, swimming, or flying around the universe–I just don’t have the evidence yet.

Alternate Realities Editor: Hannah Hall

Sources:

https://astronomy.com/news/2020/12/is-the-multiverse-theory-science-fiction-or-science-fact

https://www.npr.org/2011/01/24/132932268/a-physicist-explains-why-parallel-universes-may-exist

https://www.space.com/32728-parallel-universes.html

Dream of a Rhododendron

April 14, 2021 by szachik@pvs.org Leave a Comment

As the days turn, our emotions come and go. Blogger Quintus writes his poem “Dream of a Rhododendron,” which discusses one’s future reality through experiencing love and hard times and how one can bloom from them like a brilliant rhododendron.–Alternate Realities Editor Hannah Hall

By Quintus Ni

Plant a dream, spring, summer, autumn and winter

bloom all over
Red, pink, yellow, white
Love

Hide yourself with your mind and soul
A pink time, the gap of the city
The vine full of life

Returning from the world of mortals, night overflows

Painful thoughts

Powder and red boil time, day and month
Constantly add, the bitterness and honey of life

Sooner or later, delay
A brilliant Rhododendron
Time brewed joys and sorrows, drink
White and yellow nectar, my body

Fill up
The poison of love
One, two, three
Crumble, a piece of time
Red dream, a bird
Come back every night

Alternate Realities Editor: Hannah Hall

How We Can Use Virtual Reality Today

April 14, 2021 by szachik@pvs.org Leave a Comment

A world inside our own??? Yeah, that is basically Virtual Reality. Slap on a pair of goggles, and you are practically good to go. Blogger Jake explores a few very unique ways that we use VR in medicine, product design, military, shopping, and events. –Alternate Realities Editor Hannah Hall

By Jake Sonderman

Many movies, like The Matrix, examine living in a reality created electronically that is not “real.” Today, we have at our fingertips the technology to immerse ourselves in a digital reality. But, instead of living in an alternate reality, we use virtual reality and augmented reality to better enhance the reality we live in.

Virtual reality has been around for longer than most people realize. The virtual reality we know today, the headsets and everything, was developed in the 70s and 80s by NASA as a training system (fi.edu). Virtual reality has been extensively studied since this time and is now accessible to everyone. But now, the first association most people make with virtual reality is video games. Don’t get me wrong: this is a great way to immerse yourself in another world or reality. But, there are many more practical uses for virtual and augmented reality.

Here are some of those uses:

Surgery

Vancouver-based Precision OS Virtual Reality Surgical Training Adopted by 10 Medical Institutions Across North America | T-Net News

Arguably the most meaningful use–VR is an invaluable tool for training surgeons. Mock surgeries can be created and implemented, but, also, resident or new surgeons can have a professional guide them in virtual reality during a real surgery. Some surgeries can even be performed by a robot being controlled by a surgeon using VR.

Other Medical Uses

There are many ways VR is being utilized in therapy, whether it be conquering phobias or treating PTSD. There is also the possibility of better virtual checkups (you know in case we all have to stay home for an extended period of time for some reason). Studies have shown that VR helps paraplegics learn to walk again because according to the Duke researchers that executed the study, “If you are confined to a bed or a wheelchair for a long time, your brain starts forgetting what it’s like to have legs and how to control them.” VR helps these patients remember.

Product Design

Developing prototypes can be extremely expensive, especially for small businesses and automotive manufacturers. VR is being used to design digital prototypes and save money in the process by not creating as many physical prototypes. Here is a link to Jaguar Land Rover’s Virtual Cave where they design new cars in VR. It is from 10 years ago but is still a good example of using virtual reality to enhance production.

Copy of Virtual Reality Centre_1_news post

Military and Handling Dangerous Materials

Soldiers to Get Advanced Virtual Training Tools Next Year, Army Says | Military.com

Of course we already use drones in the military, but VR has good applications for training teams in all branches. The military invests very heavily into developing VR technology. VR is also useful for handling dangerous objects like radioactive materials from a distance, through robots of course.

Shopping

One of the things I hate about shopping online, especially for musical instruments, is not being able to try something before I buy it. Virtual reality can help customers get a sense for what they want before they buy it. This is especially helpful for online clothes shopping. VR can assist in seeing how clothes will fit and look before you buy them, so that you don’t have to spend days waiting just to get clothes that don’t fit. Also, the automotive industry is beginning to use VR to show customers how a car will feel if they want to buy it online.

Events and Concerts

Especially during Quarantine, concerts in VR began to get some traction. Unfortunately, the phenomenon didn’t go too mainstream due to a relatively small number of people having a VR headset, but it is still a cool innovation. This is especially cool for audio because believe it or not, audio for VR is also very complicated. This is because if you are in a virtual room, software has to model what the audio will sound like in the exact spot you are standing based on the acoustics of the virtual room and where the audio source is coming from. But an added plus is that you can choose to watch the concert in solo mode and see your favorite artist up close.

I find this very interesting since I plan to major in audio engineering, and many cool VR products for audio have come out of the university I plan to go to (the University of Miami)–one of which was a VR program that spots the acoustic imperfections in your home studio.

The amount of technology an everyday citizen has at their fingertips today would amaze someone 30 years ago. That being said, I’m sure 10 years from now we will all be utilizing technology hundreds of times more powerful. To me, it seems like VR is a technology we will all be using in the future, and man that is exciting.

Alternate Realities Editor: Hannah Hall

Sources: