Gallery of the Uncommon

A truly immersive experience

Miguel Melo, researcher of INESC TEC’s Centre for Information and Computer Graphics Systems (CSIG), can’t wait to try his new experiment on MASSIVE Virtual Reality Laboratory at UTAD.

“This is a really important work”, Miguel proudly comments. “After teaching firefighters to deal with extreme temperatures, and after rehearsing surgeries with doctors and nurses, we will now picture how to cope with a flood situation.”

“This a subject that concerns me personally, because I am from Portuguese islands and I can’t forget the last Madeira floods”, reveals Miguel while adjusting his Oculus Vr to his head and exchanging ideas with co-workers.

Is everything in place? Let the experience begin!

Miguel starts to listen the bubble water and soon after he smells the wet ground. Then he ears cries for help. He twists his head as if he was an owl and tries to absorb everything that his senses capture.

It is a frightening experience: water level rises every second and all the objects of the room are immersed. Miguel feels powerless. He just looks everywhere and he is distressed because he doesn’t know what to do. His feet are soaking wet and extending to the ankles.

“Wait, should my feet be soaking wet?”

Despite the sound of the water and the turmoil for people running away, Miguel listen one of his co-workers:

- Miguel, Miguel can you hear me? We need to stop the experiment because one pipe is leaking at the Lab and the room is waterlogged.