Does anyone remember the Mad Men episode where Don tells the visiting execs what the Kodak Carousel was all about? The Carousel was the height of tech back in the 1960s. For those who weren’t around, it’s an electro-mechanical version of an LCD projector with plastic slides standing in for JPEG files.
Anyway, Don then explains about our ache for the past, which is what nostalgia literally means, and why consumers would therefore bond with the Carousel since it’s a way to return to happy-ville.
Great, who doesn’t look at old pictures to remember the good ol’ days. But do we want to travel back in a more intimate way, say, through virtual reality visors? That seems to be the idea behind SF-based Autonomous’s Teleport, an Indiegogo project that’s doing crazy business — it raised over $20,000 in just a few days.
With Teleport, you don’t have to use old pictures to approximately recreate past experiences, you can instead plunk yourself right in the middle of the action and view it all over again. Teleport provides a special lens that you slip over the builtin lens of your iPhone/Droid to record in 3D. The kit also comes with a cardboard visor in which you can later insert your phone gadget to relive the action.
Imagine if some over-eager parents get their hands on this thing! Your adult-self can then watch traumatic childhood events, like cringe-worthy family holiday dinners or that birthday party where your best frenemy from 3rd grade accidentally on purpose wallops you during the pinata contest. There may be some therapeutic value in this exercise, or perhaps it’s just better to leave past demons locked away.
Me, I prefer to took at the past through static pictures and let my mind’s eye, nature’s own organic 3D recreator, do its work. I am also an occasional diarist, which is also a pretty good way to return to selective past events. Just sayin’.
If you’re interested, the Teleport kit (camera and visor) can be yours for $99. The folks at Autonomous say delivery of the goods will be in December —just in time for your holiday celebrations!
Mad Men: The Carousel from raychancc on Vimeo.