What I'd Like to See in the Metaverse

Yesterday I posted about the Metaverse. Today I would like to dive a little deeper and share what I would like to see. Given the recent pandemic we all have learned a lot about our tolerance for staying inside. I recently visited Disneyland and chose the dates I did because it was supposed to be empty. Everyday it was crowded and full to capacity because travel restrictions have lifted and that is what people want to do: visit places they haven't been able to because of COVID-19. I also recently tried to book a trip to Zion National Park as it has been a few years since I have been there. Hotel rates are $600-$700 per night in the town just outside the park because so many people want to visit. In order for me to stay home and spend more time inside, the Metaverse better offer something really special and unique.

I love skiing in the winter and rock climbing in the summer. I also enjoy spending time on my bike or sailing. How can you create a world that has a better experience than the activities I enjoy outside? Let's start with exercise.

Today I went for a beautiful bike ride at lunch. Soon the weather will turn ugly and while I have the equipment to ride outside in the pouring rain, I will probably ride inside on my stationary bicycle. Currently I just put in my ear buds and listen to music. I don't use my over-the-ear headphones because they get all sweaty and nasty. I doubt I would ever put on virtual reality (VR) goggles for the same reason. Perhaps I could set my indoor bike up in front of a TV and bike in a virtual world. I have an unused 60-inch television in my office that I could use for such a purpose. Furthermore it is capable of 3D movies and could create a wonderful indoor biking experience. While that does require glasses, I wear sunglasses on my daily ride and so it wouldn't be that much of a bother. The important thing to remember is that I can't be expected to wear cumbersome goggles while I exercise.

I mentioned how I visited Disneyland a few weeks ago. How much is it worth to me to visit an online version of the park in the Metaverse? Probably not much even though you wouldn't have to wait in line for hours on end to ride the rides. There is something about having the wind in your face and feeling the motion of the roller coaster as you experience Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, or Thunder Mountain Railroad. That would be hard to replicate at home even with smart devices like an Internet-controlled fan or a perfectly timed bucket of water. However the more gentle rides like the Jungle Cruise, Peter Pan, or Snow White could become a more magical experience than they are at the theme park. I also would like to see earlier versions of the park. Perhaps even visit the park I remember as a child. I would pay real money to experience opening day at Disneyland which is something only possible in VR.

My daughter has a shirt that says, "Hike the Crimson Canyon of Mars National Park." We have robots on the red planet right now collecting high-quality images of our planetary neighbor. NASA could easily put together a VR experience without the unnecessarily long and dangerous space flight to get there. That is something I would like to see. I would also like to see all of the places in the world that are difficult or dangerous to visit. I have sailed a relatively small boat through several massive storms and I don't want be put in such a dangerous situation again. However I wouldn't mind being able to appreciate the power of Mother Nature from the comfort and safety of my living room.

Unfortunately the visions I am describing do not suit the tastes of all. There are bound to be online destinations that offend in the same way we have websites of the same genres now. As I said yesterday, the Metaverse is here now and so hopefully we can apply some of the same barriers to keep our children from wandering into the dangerous destinations soon to arrive.

Enjoying a Solo Roadtrip

Thursday last week I drove my car from San Francisco back to Salt Lake. It is a trip I make about twice a year. Once I drive from Utah to California and then I drive the other way. I do it as I take a lot of vacation at the end of the calendar year and don't want to leave my car unused for such a long time. It is also a great time to do maintenance and take care of licensing.

There are a number of strategies I have used to combat boredom on the trip. On occasion I have enlisted one of my children to drive with me. My youngest daughter often shares with others about the time she flew to San Francisco and only stuck around for an hour or two before driving home. We had a fun time and listened to book on CD. We both enjoyed the fictional story and could talk about it as we drove the 11 hours.

Unfortunately my car is 17 years old and does not have a Bluetooth nor other type of audio connection. That eliminates being able to use a service like Audible. So before my trip on Thursday, I went to the local bookstore and purchased a non-fiction book on CD and loaded up the 6-disc changer in the trunk. At around the 5-hour mark, I swapped out CD's and loaded the remaining 3 as my book required 9 discs. The system works well but books on CD are more expensive than other sources or services.

My chosen listening material recounted the non-fictional story of Apollo 8. There are some familiar characters if you have seen the movie Apollo 13 and I enjoyed the references found in both. The story kept me entertained and the miles seemed to pass quickly. Of course, the 80-mile-per-hour speed limit in Utah and Nevada helped a lot too. If you find yourself wanting to go back and learn a bit about America's space program, I highly recommend the book. It is called "Apollo 8: The Thrilling Story of the First Mission to the Moon" by Jeffrey Kluger.

I plan to bring my car back to California after the new year as soon as I catch a weather window where I don't have to worry about snowstorms closing the freeway around Lake Tahoe. When I do, I will be sure to get another book to listen to. With enough warning, I can probably find a better source for the stories so I can play it from my smartphone instead of on CD. That should save me some money.

Golf Pencils

I missed writing yesterday because I spent my morning on the side of an ice covered mountain helping coordinate volunteers for a ski race. When I got back to my office after lunch, I had a pile of work which took priority.

Coordinating volunteers for a ski race is a fun job if you know what you are doing. I had to train new people on the basics and then talk to everyone about new rules instituted this year. Finally I had to give everyone their paperwork that needs to be filled out on the mountain. If a skier doesn't ski the course correctly, it needs to be recorded.

Standing on the side of a mountain filling out paperwork for a ski race is very enlightening. For instance, did you know that a ball-point pen doesn't work below 32 degrees Fahrenheit? The ink freezes. NASA knew that a ball-point pen wouldn't work in zero gravity and spent millions of dollars coming up with a pen that would write in space. The Russians just brought a pencil. Ski racing officials use the low-tech solution and bring a pencil, which works great in the cold.

A second discovery that every ski racing official makes is that it is very cold if you have to take your glove off to write. After half a decade of helping with races, I have learned to write with my gloves on. It is a useful skill that recently came in handy when I was playing a party game and was asked to remove some candy from a foil wrapper while wearing thick, winter gloves. The only exception to being able to write with gloves on is if you get stuck with a golf pencil.

Golf pencils are those half-pencils without erasers that you get for free. They are called golf pencils because you most often see them at golf courses and are used to keep track of your score. If you go into an office-supply store, you can buy a huge box of them for less than an order of french fries. In fact the cheapest thing in the store is a gigantic box of golf pencils.

For the record, I hate golf pencils. They are only useful once. The moment you try to sharpen one, it becomes too small to use again. There is no eraser and so if you make a mistake, you're screwed. Well, unless you are carrying an eraser in your pocket. But who carries an eraser to a ski race? Hand warmers, candy bars, and goggle scrapers, yes. Pencil eraser, no.

The whole reason for the invention of the golf pencil is based on the idea of creating a writing instrument that nobody would want to steal. If golf courses gave out nice pencils, they would never get them back. However if you are done playing a round of golf, get in your car, drive an hour down the road, and then discover that you still have your free golf pencil, you will go all the way back to the course to return it because nobody wants such a useless thing.

As the new volunteer coordinator I'm going to go buy a big box of real pencils. Full-sized ones, with erasers on the end. Then I am going to drill holes in the backs of them just below the eraser. That will allow me to run a string through the pencils so I can attach them to clipboards. If that doesn't keep the writing instruments from disappearing, then it is back to golf pencils. But only as a last resort.