CCTV9英语新闻：S. African show lets people 'live' like a shark

People in Cape Town are given the chance to live like a shark without getting their feet wet. That's part of a high-tech exhibit designed to dispel myths about the sea's deadliest predator.

 

It's been more than 40 years since Jaws hit the big screen - and sharks are still struggling to live down that reputation. Will this exhibit help? It combines virtual reality with a little imagination - to put the user in the shark's skin.

 

"What we've tried to do it put the individual user into the sharks perspective, so when they start in the visual environment, they are looking at this underwater environment from the perspective of the shark,we've incorporated other interesting interactive feed back mechanisms which create an even more engaging interactive environment and therefore a better learning environment," Marco Rosa, director of Formula D Interactive, said.

 

In reality, sharks are not that interested in human prey. But they play a vital role in balancing the eco system - by going after the weakest in the water. This exhibit shows what it's like to be under water - but at the top of the food chain.

 

"The shark uses 4 senses in order to be able to hunt its prey and survive ultimately and the user gets physical feed back on the stimulus that the sharks get,so hearing they get the sense of smell with fans that we built into the exhibit that blow scent into the users faces so that they get that experience and feed back and vibration,so the sharks use vibration to sense their prey and this exhibit has also include a vibration feedback in the handles," Rosa said.

 

Sharks may have a bad rap with many but they've now got new fans with those few lucky enough to get experience the machine.

 

"I've never really realized how hard it is to be the life of a shark,they go around and swim around the ocean but if you ever actually thing about it and all the senses that they have and all the different attributes they have about themselves like they got a very good sense of smell and sight," Scholar Liam Jensen said.

 

"Its quite cool having to see how a shark lives and how hard it is to find their prey,to smell it and to follow and see how they do it,its quite actually very interesting,I've never actually thought of how long it takes," Scholar Rebecca Chapman said.

 

"I understand like how the shark use their senses to hunt,find prey,the different aspects,hearing its a very good experience using the machine so we cant understand how the sharks find their prey and its very different," Scholar Caleb Roy said.

 

The exhibit is free and is certainly a fun way to learn some secrets of the deep.

 

The prospects of using virtual reality as an educational tool are broad and wide,so this technology will feature prominently in the future,for now though sharks are one species that can certainly benefit educating the kids,about its role in nature.