You Can Soon Step Into Your Memories To Relive Them Once More In VR
Sometimes reliving a memory by watching it on a video you took with your phone might not be enough as it can feel detached and distant. You might have even wished you could return to different special moments and take in every sensation once again.
Wist, a virtual reality (VR) startup, is looking at memories from an all-new perspective by transforming them into something you can step back into with the help of your devices.
The app overlays recorded videos over augmented reality to let you view them as if it was happening in front of you all over again. Wist states that all you have to do is send in a video you have taken, and the app will create a 3D representation of the event for you to watch on your phone, desktop, or for the ultimate viewing experience: a VR headset.
In an interview with Freethink, founder Andrew McHugh said that Wist can “save the color depth, device pose, audio, and scene information” via the LiDAR sensors on the Pro models of iPhones and iPads.
Your memories — how you remember them pic.twitter.com/eRwIK6xYTF
— Wist: Immersive Memories (@WistLabs) February 21, 2023
From a demo from the company, it will turn these videos into what looks like a first-person video game where you can move through them and view them as if you had truly stepped into the screen. And if you’re using a headset, you can see your avatar’s hands and feet.
The idea of being able to relive moments in one’s life might seem like a good idea. However, Futurism and some folks on Twitter have pointed out how this feels akin to an episode of Black Mirror or that one scene in Minority Report where a similar technology allowed the characters to view memories with the same dream-like quality as Wist’s.
This reminds me of a scene from Minority Report. pic.twitter.com/nor4YF6SVO
— Peter Kuhar (@pkuhar) February 23, 2023
With that, it poses the question if society is ready for a future where it can walk directly into a memory—so to speak—or are some things better left as a photo we look back on once in a while?
If you are curious to see what it would feel like to do so, Wist is open for registration now.
