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Infinite VR experience in Tacoma puts you inside the International Space Station

New technology and willing astronauts make The Infinite a special experience for visitors to the Tacoma Armory

TACOMA, Wash. — Space tourism is a real possibility for the very hyper-rich and the very lucky, but for the rest of us there's the next best thing, a virtual-reality experience called The Infinite.

In reality you're wandering around a large dark room at the Tacoma Armory, but The Infinite makes you feel like you're part of the crew on the International Space Station.

When Jim Dever and Saint Bryan paid a visit, they were handed VR headsets and set free to virtually explore the ISS. When they reached out toward floating blue bubbles, they were immersed in one of 60 human moments shot over a three-year period with specially designed 3D 360-degree cameras.

Credit: Jim Dever
Jim Dever and Saint Bryan picking up their virtual reality headgear

The cameras are set up by the astronauts themselves.

In one, ISS astronaut Anne McClain watches Earth below. We heard her say,  "I really wish everyone on Earth could have the perspective that we have living up here."

In others, we saw astronauts gathered for a meal, throwing a football and jogging on a treadmill.

"We encouraged the astronauts, if they were ever inspired or if there ever was something that was cool that wasn't on the schedule but was happening, to just pull out a camera and frame the shot themselves," said Paul Raphael of Montreal-based Felix & Paul Studios. Their production house won an Emmy for a documentary that put viewers inside the Obama White House. This is a bigger, more technical challenge.

Credit: Felix & Paul Studios
Visitors quickly forget that in reality they are wandering around a dark room

Game developers and architects joined filmmakers who recorded 200 hours of video. Astronauts learned to relate to the camera. But some of the most powerful moments are just seeing Earth silently rotating below.

"The overview effect is extraordinary in the sense that it can trigger very deep emotions," said Felix LaJeunesse. "Because it's quite powerful to be able to see the fragility and the preciousness of the biosphere in one view."

The Infinite can be experienced at the Tacoma Armory through September 5.

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