NEW DELHI, February 6: For some it is a dark hall with big screens and looming pictures. For others it is the wonder of science -- the world of virtual reality.Hall 15 of Pragati Maidan has become destination point for a lot of people. It is one of those must do things on everybody's agenda. So, everyone lands up there and Virtual Gallery is a hit. Well, almost.
The French image technology on display left a few people confused. For starters, there were a lot of people who went to the exhibition with a preconceived notion of what they were going to see. ``We thought it was about being a part of the images'' was the first reaction.
But as people went around the place, the whispering started. ``Is this how it is supposed to be?'' was what everyone wanted to know. Unfortunately, there were not too many people to explain things. Outside each cubicle was a board explaining how the system worked. But coming out of the cubicle there were a lot of queries that needed clarification. Not many went up to thehostesses and asked for explanations.
Giant Mosaic is a projection of images against a musical background, the DNA Story is a 3-D digital film on cellular division and the Cyber Cube is inspired by geometry of chaos. No long queues here. The interactive displays on the other hand had a curious crowd peering over each other's shoulder. Room of Desires and Paris-New Delhi Tunnel were interesting.
A lot of people walked into the Room of Desire because the name was intriguing. The board outside read: A dark room that (like a magic mirror) reflects completely a persons thoughts in the form of images and music on screen.
Rama Sharma, a freelance artist, agreed to be plugged in. For ten minutes, the screen in front of her was flooded with images -- collapsing buildings, pigs, a horse running backward and someone peering into a microscope, among other things. Once the imagery stopped, the onlookers wanted to know how it felt.
``Well, I could relate to the void space and the horse bit. I also understood thebondage bit and trying to break free. However, I am not so sure of the rest,'' Sharma says, after thinking it through. Everybody is not satisfied. So the fair girl tries to explain. ``There are 17,000 images in the computer, all tuned to different frequencies. The images are projected according to the frequency a person triggers off,'' says Shalini Chandran.The tunnel was also virtual experience. You stand on a board and enter Paris, through a tunnel. You definitely feel a part of this one.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
