WORDS & PHOTOGRAPHY JAMES VINCENT
I’m oating in the centre of the fuselage of a large passenger jet having the time of my life. Except that I’m not really oating – I’m standing on solid ground about 100km from the nearest airport, on the outskirts of the quiet French town of Montargis. And the aircraft I’m in has no seats, no pilot and no crew, while the only passengers are myself, a fellow journalist, an Australian importer, and a technician from French tyre manufacturer Hutchinson (our guide Alex has chosen to sit this one out). Oh, and the aircraft doesn’t actually exist outside of the three walls I’m standing in, as it’s an incredibly accurate 3D projection, powered by a fridgesized supercomputer tucked away in the corner of the room along with some of the largest video projectors I’ve ever seen.
In spite of this rather confusing set-up we’re all grinning like idiots, waving a fancy joystick around to control the model, taking it in turns to explore the inside of the aforementioned aircraft, while video cameras around the room track nodes on the glasses I’m wearing to position me within this virtual reality and make sure I’m seeing an accurate rendition of the aircraft.