Living with Lag is an experiment conducted to illustrate the fact that we wouldn’t accept internet lag offline, so why would we accept it online?
The unique experiment was performed Swedish network provider UmeNet that filmed what was happening in front of their subjects with a webcam hooked to a Raspberry Pi computer and then intentionally staggered the video replay of whatever happened before displaying it to users through an Oculus Rift virtual reality headset. The rig also comes equipped with noise-cancelling headphones, which makes it pretty difficult to receive some audible assistance while you’re fumbling around 3 seconds behind everybody else.
Living with Lag has the subjects perform everyday tasks while wearing the headset and experiencing some type of lag. The minimum lag is 1/3 of a second, while the most frustrating delay is around the 3-second mark. The footage was pretty hilarious, to say the least.
Outsider’s Perspective
Subject’s Perspective
So why did UmeNet conduct the Living with Lag experiment? Advertising of course. The company provides fiber broadband that offers up to 1000 Mbit/s. They used four volunteers to illustrate the internet’s biggest disturbance in real life – lag. By revealing the frustrations associated with real-life lag, the company hopes that you will turn to them for a lag-free experience of course.
Though the results of a ping pong match where one person is living with lag aren’t surprising, it’s still amusing to watch him try to compete — or even attempt to pick the ball up off the floor after he misses a swing. Similarly, watching a girl dance out of step with her peers is infinitely more amusing when it’s because she’s lagged, rather than because she’s rhythmically challenged. Even making pancakes becomes a quest when you realize the measuring cup fills before you can actually see it fill.
www.geek.com
What did you think of #LivingWithLag?
