On a recent afternoon at Stanford University’s Virtual Human Interaction Lab, in a dark, windowless, carpeted room, a group of visitors took turns playing on the school’s football team.
Under the protective watch of two lab assistants, I and my fellow visitors each strapped a set of virtual reality goggles to our faces. I listened as my newfound teammates, dressed in crisp white and red jerseys, talked through their plays.I swiveled my head up to gaze at the blue California skies. When it came time to play, I shuffled my feet to dodge an oncoming athlete and to charge at a foe; and my arms swung as I tried to make myself open for a pass. The experience was tense and exciting, but also jarring; I constantly felt on the cusp of meeting the real-life ground below me.