Finally, you can become an ant, thanks to the power of VIRTUAL REALITY.
Background:
Currently, there is no easy way to have the experience of becoming a tiny ant [*]. This is a shortcoming that could not be addressed—until now, thanks to modern VR technology!
[*] You could watch the 1989 film Honey I Shrunk the Kids, but that isn’t an interactive experience.
Proposal:
Thanks to virtual reality, you can become an ant in 3 steps:
- Get a VR headset.
- Create a small remote-controlled car with two cameras on the front.
- Set up the R.C. car cameras to transmit to the VR headset.
Figure 1 shows the result of these steps.
Now you can be an ant!
Fig. 1: Left: someone wearing a VR headset that receives a pair of video signals from the remote-controlled car (orange) shown in the magnifying-glass inset (right)
Fig. 2: The experience of the viewer in VR goggles is shown at right. This is definitely exactly what an ant looks like close-up, as anyone who has seen the “Planet Earth” series can confirm. That’s how you know that this image was drawn with extensive consultation of reference material.
Conclusion:
This “ant VR” system theoretically be used for other purposes as well; maybe the ant-sized drone could check for cracks in hard-to-access parts of bridges or buildings, or an aquatic version could swim through a city’s water system to allow maintenance personnel to both look for leaks AND ALSO pretend to be an eel at the same time. Finally!
PROS: Lets you feel kinship with your insectoid brethren, the ants.
CONS: After spending a while in VR, you might think you actually ARE an ant and become unable to participate in human society.
Figure 3 (bonus): An extremely detailed technical schematic that will be used for manufacturing.
