Fancy A Safari Without Leaving Home ?

Going on such things as a safari holiday may be things of the past in the next few years as researchers at the University of Warwick and the University of York have formed a  team of scientists from universities across the UK to begin work on a project to use the latest advances in virtual reality to enable users to go on safari from the comfort of their own front rooms.What’s different about this virtual reality project is that users will experience the smells, heat, sounds and sights of places such as Kenya’s Masai Mara – while sitting on their sofa. It is hoped that the device will be available in three to five years time.Professor Alan Chalmers, who is working on how smells will be generated electronically in the device said:”The idea is to produce a portable virtual reality device that you can use in the comfort of your own home. This will be a huge step forward in comparison to today’s virtual reality devices.  Combining the use of all five senses will make the experience feel totally real – it will be unlike anything previously available.”If such a device can indeed be built then it may have big implications in education and training but we can’t see it being a full replacement for a proper holiday so don’t even think about not renewing your passport next time !Virtual reality devices are headsets that give the user the impression that they are actually really experiencing what they are seeing so the thought of being able to witness things and events without actually being there is appealing to us and it could have some interesting uses !