Author Archives: Christian Tenczar

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Busy with Turkey and Snow

Yes, it’s been a little while since the last post.  I wasn’t able to post yesterday as there was too much work to be done after the snow closing Monday which followed the Thanksgiving break.  There’s a number of things going on, but first a little about technology I explored over the Thanksgiving break.

I didn’t spend as much time with VR as I would have liked.  I was able to get a little Beat Saber in, but not much else.  There’s new content in the National Geographic Explorer software, an entire guided Machu Picchu experience.  The page even explains that some locations are recreated as they would have been back in it’s prime for you to explore in VR.  I image that this could be a great “field trip” for a history class.  I think I will ask the STEM folks if the wouldn’t mind purchasing this, it’s not expensive at all at $9.99.

I did get a little drone flying in, although have not had an opportunity for a cold-weather flight to get some images and video of the snowy Berkshires.  We got nearly 2 feet of snow over the last week and it would have been great to get some flying in.  There are extra precautions to take in cold weather flying, the new Mavic Mini I’ve been flying states that it is not suggested to fly in temperatures less than 32 degrees F.  Also you must consider that the higher up you fly, the colder and windier it becomes.  I’m waiting for that perfect “warm” day to get some pictures, but the snow will not be fresh for it at this point.

Tomorrow I am giving a VR demonstration to students from Taconic High School and it looks like we will be walking the plank.  It’s an effective demonstration, and brief, so you can have 10 students try it for a few minutes a piece and everyone can get a turn.  I’ve done this demonstration before and it was interesting, I’m wondering what new I will learn this time!  Tomorrow I will write all about this.

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VR, It’s Not Just for Humans Anymore

When this article about cows wearing VR headsets popped up in my news feed I had to do some research to see if it was legit.  The photo alone made this appear like a hoax or even an article from The Onion, however a quick search shows that it’s being reported by a series of reputable sites in addition to the BCC including:Screenshot of Cow VR article headline.

The first question I had after reading the article title was “what do cows watch in Virtual Reality?” The articles all explain that the program shows sunny summer pastures to help decrease the animal’s anxiety so that it can produce more, and better quality milk.  I rather wish they had a sample image or video as I’m really curious what exactly this looks like.

It appears as if the idea is working.  It will be interesting to see the full study and all it’s data, however the articles themselves ask a few questions about possible technical problems such as, “how often do you need to charge the headsets?” and “does removing the headset upset or disturb the animal?” and “how does the animal adjust back to reality?”

The Engadget article makes another good point, humans are using technology to solve a problem of our own creation — the huge global demand for beef and animal products means we have to get creative to meet it.  We pile animals into all sorts of places with “not great” conditions only to feed the human population. I suppose parts of Russia where this study is being done do have the issue that the stark landscape is not exactly “calming” by the classic definition, and maybe cows don’t care for it either.

Question: Is the future of farming using technology to enhance our animals?  Or perhaps instead it is doing away with the animal (and the suffering) entirely with lab grown meats as in this recent article here?  Still maybe the Beyond and Impossible companies that make meat-like substitutes out of plants are where we are headed.  One thing is for certain, if something doesn’t change the world is headed to a future where we will not be able to meet the global demand for animal meat and byproducts.  It will be fascinating to see how this plays out.

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At a loss … so I plan!

Today is the first post since I started this project where I’m not really sure what to write about.  Lately I have been rather focused on flying drones especially with the new Mavic Mini.  I hope to get more flight time over the Thanksgiving break.  I also have my nephew’s computer to fix — fix maybe isn’t the right word because it never worked in the first place.  He tried to build it himself, but had never done it before.

I was able to do a little VR on the exercise bike today, 4.46 miles to be exact.  The annoying thing is that there was a 775MB update to install before I could even start, which was frustrating.  In the shower I had the thought to write a full review on the VirZOOM software, which I will likely do next week.  I do have some ideas on how it could be improved, however I want to check the forums the product has first as my ideas may not be new.  One of the things I do really like about the VirZOOM is that the developers seem to be very active and open to updates and suggestions from users.

So, just a few more days to go before the Thanksgiving break!