Because who is working on a Friday afternoon really? If you are going to be wasting time on the internet, we need to make sure you are at least filling your brain with goodness. This week we tackle the topic of VR, with links covering everything from the AR/VR Garage in Auckland, right down to the playing with food to make music, the first 360 degree ballet, and a little something from NASA.

VR will make you feel better
If you are firmly in the “technology is making humans less meaningfuly connected” camp then never fear, you are amongst friends. But what if Virtual Reality was a way for us to teach connection and empathy, and encourage people to feel things outside of their lived experience?
Read: Is Virtual Reality the Ultimate Empathy Machine

Embrace VR here in Auckland

Recently the AR/VR Garage launched here in Auckland. The location includes space for startups with an AR/VR focus, showcase and project space and more.
Read: AR/VR Garage

Oculus Rift’s head scientist thinks VR will trick our brains
“At F8, Facebook’s annual conference in San Francisco, Abrash quoted the red pill monologue from The Matrix, saying, “If real is what you can feel, smell, taste, and see, then ‘real’ is simply electrical signals interpreted by your brain.” He then ran through a series of illusions, ranging from the classic warped checkerboard to a Matrix-themed mental manipulations showing that it doesn’t matter whether we choose the red or the blue pill—if they’re both grey.”
Read: Optical Illusions Show How VR Could Trick Our Brains

Play with your food
You may not have known you wanted/needed a game that allows you to play with food in order to make music, but you do o.k?

Get up and close
Get out your Google Cardboard, and have a flick through the various VR experiences offered up for free on Youtube – like the first 360 ballet.

Or an astronaut training walk

Anya likes to trawl the internet for good stuff, when she isn’t working on brand and comms for GridAKL that is.