Businesses are finding more uses for Virtual Reality (VR) as the technology develops. VR is no longer only for gaming or enjoyment. An American company called Blue Goji is using VR to improve one's health by making exercise more fun.

    Blue Goji has offices in Austin, the capital of Texas. The company showed its cardiovascular (心血管的) workout machine, called the Infinity treadmill (跑步机), at the recent South by Southwest festival, an event held every year in Austin.

    A person using the treadmill wears a virtual reality headset when exercising. Before starting, the user tightens a belt to prevent falls. Then, the user plays a VR game while running on the machine. The game can transport the user into the virtual world, where he or she can be racing against virtual people.

    Recently, Leonardo Mattiazzi tested the Infinity treadmill. Mattiazzi said he had a strong feeling to actually get running and do something that pushed his limits. He said the experience was more interesting than running inside the gym without actually going anywhere.

    Constam said the active use of virtual reality helps solve a common problem while wearing a VR headset. She noted that a lot of VR experiences cause motion sickness because people are in motion during the game, but not moving in real life. But when the user is moving on the treadmill and in the game, the chances of motion sickness are reduced.

    However, users who tested the treadmill while wearing the VR headset each had a different experience. Constam said there generally is a learning curve for VR. The first time users feel lost, but "the more you do it, the more you get used to it," she said. Mark Sackler was a first time user. He said he felt a little sick at one point during the game. But he thought the experience was surprisingly realistic.

    After carefully studying the users' experiences, Blue Goji plans to make the treadmill available to the public in 2019.

“春天里”的文化风暴裹挟了谁

单士兵

    依靠翻唱汪峰的《春天里》走红的“旭日阳刚”音乐组合，现在回看过去，会发现他们与曾经扶他们上马走上一程的人——《春天里》词曲作者兼原唱者汪峰，渐行渐远。因为汪峰近日明确告知旭日阳刚今后不能以任何形式演唱《春天里》。

    从当初凌乱局促的出租屋唱上了“星光大道”，随后唱进央视春晚，旭日阳刚经过一条别样的途径，完成了从草根到明星的重大转身。这段成功过程，绕不开汪峰的扶持。比如，汪峰邀请旭日阳刚参加自己的演唱会，特别是一再授权他们直到在春晚演唱《春天里》，最后才完成了对这对草根歌手命运的根本转变。就像每个父母懂得自己的孩子一样，汪峰自然明白《春天里》的价值，也明白这种翻唱对自己到底意味着什么，对背后的文化与市场的秩序又意味着什么。

    当汪峰不让旭日阳刚演唱这首歌，自然带来各种争议。而这些争议也在被围观与评价。

    文化冲突的风暴生成了。被这种风暴裹挟的，不仅是汪峰与旭日阳刚，还有更多人。文化差异越大，参与人群越多，风暴就越激烈。

    旭日阳刚曾经的生存状态，作为这个时代的一种表征，自然容易激起人们的情感共鸣。从这个意义上讲，旭日阳刚对音乐介入现实生活无疑也作出了贡献。但是，这又绝不是消解《春天里》作品本身的文化价值的理由。

    面对这些复杂错位的社会文化元素，当事人面临着艰难的选择，围观者也面对着文化价值判断的博弈。而这些价值阐述与文化博弈，本身何尝又不是一种财富？

    当然，汪峰给予过旭日阳刚最大的帮扶。当旭日阳刚以大量商演冲击特定版权秩序，客观形成对汪峰及其团队利益冲击的情况下，作为理性经济人的汪峰选择拒绝赐予，并不承担道德责任，也具有一定的法律理性。他在这起事件中展示的文化包容与秩序守护，应该得到尊重、理解，甚至是激赏。

    央视主持人将汪峰维护版权行为称做是“危机公关”，认为应该以“开阔的心胸”这样的道德境界面对问题，从中也不难发现法律意识的淡薄。诚然，对弱者的宽容与同情是应有的品质，但弱者从来也不应该具有天然的道德优势，更不能因为是弱者就可免于担当法律责任。

    如果不尊重这些文化常识，恐怕会远比这事件本身更悲哀。如果不能通过理性的文化对话，真正形成对文明与秩序的普遍坚守，任何人都可能遭遇到精神与权利的剥夺。就像现在汪峰被裹挟于“春天里”文化冲突的风暴中。

    也就是说，通过对这起事件的围观与梳理，让人们形成更多的文化认同，懂得去遵守秩序底线，那样才能避免更多人被裹挟在文化风暴中，而不至于产生太多的盲从与迷失。

（选自2011年2月15日《中国青年报》，有删改）