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June 21, 2016

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Home » Opinion » Foreign Views

Unplug from the tech hype and get real

By Kunal Sinha | June 21, 2016, Tuesday | Print Edition

WE are in the midst of a virtual-reality obsession. Business leaders, technology investors, inventors and entertainment moguls have joined forces to convince us that the ultimate way to escape our mundane reality is by strapping on a headset. They are tapping into the desire to be immersed inside a universe that is removed from our own.

It’s been forecast that some 286 million Chinese could soon be users of VR (virtual reality) devices. China’s e-commerce leaders believe that the value of VR lies in helping their buyers shop more easily, and have experiences more like what they would have in an actual store. Content creators serve up videos of fighter planes screaming overhead, wingsuit jumpers leaping off a cliff, whitewater rafters being splashed around rapids and women dancing to hip-hop music.

On the metro, the hardware and software makers expect a quick transition from everyone looking at their mobile phones screens to donning headsets as soon as they settle into their seats.

All this speculation made me pause and ask the question: is our own world so bereft of meaning that we have to escape from it in order to feel enriched?

A virtual world seems so easy and effortless, that we are drawn in and mesmerized. But the real world is messy, and its order can’t be restored by clicking a button. It is unpredictable and uncertain. As parents, educators and changemakers, is it not incumbent upon us to snap our youth out of their virtual dream worlds, and help them develop the kinds of skills they might need when they’re not engaging with their robot assistants?

The upcoming summer holidays might be a good place to start. While many expat families head home, with kids tucking their devices into their backpacks; and many local families enroll their children in music or language classes, it may be worth considering how two months could be spent in getting their hands dirty and their clothes messy.

Shanghai offers plentiful choices. At the Shanghai Museum of Glass, set in an old glass factory on Changjiang Lu, you can first marvel at a collection of ancient and contemporary glassworks, watch the glass blowers practice their craft, and then try your hand at a DIY workshop.

At the Lego Discovery Center inside Parkside Plaza on Daduhe Lu, children and adults can join a creative workshop and learn from a Lego master, then create Lego cars and race them on a track.

Back to nature

At the 100 acre Mahota Farm on Chongming Island, there’s a chance to get back to nature by planting seeds and saplings, caring for livestock, or fishing for your own dinner. Visitors can also get arty by doing graffiti on a wall.

Or make a day trip out to Shanghai’s largest green space, covering a sprawling 200 hectares, the Chenshan Botanical Gardens in Songjiang. From its breathtaking 72 meter high waterfall plunging down an abandoned stone quarry, to climbing the steep Chenshan Hill to take in a great view, to boating on the West Lake, to getting kids to jump around on trampolines — there’s plenty to burn off the fat that accumulates from sitting around playing video games.

A trip to Yangpu district, where at the Zotter Chocolate Factory, where anyone can revel in the art of chocolate making and make some of the exotic flavors, is a feast for the senses. This is a confectionery which pushes the boundaries through its innovative flavor combinations, such as pineapple and celery, bacon bits, spices, wine and frankincense. And above all, this summer vacation, just resist the urge to buy that latest VR headset!

 

Kunal Sinha has over 25 years of unearthing and commenting on consumer and cultural trends, and helping companies profit from them. Based in Shanghai for nearly a decade, he is the author of two books about creativity in business: China’s Creative Imperative, and Raw – Pervasive Creativity in Asia, and has taught at some of the world’s leading business schools.

Foreign Views


 

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