Out of this world experience for Newbury MP
Laura Farris tries virtual reality headsets at animation studio
NEWBURY MP Laura Farris entered a new dimension as she tried on immersive virtual reality headsets at a Newbury animation studio.
Mrs Farris visited Parachute Animation Studios on The Broadway – a home-grown business specialising in everything from CGI and visual effects to augmented, virtual and mixed reality.
Following a discussion on the various projects Parachute Animation has been involved in – including creating holograms for The Apprentice – Mrs Farris tried on two separate headsets.
The first was a virtual reality demonstration where she experienced the sensation of flying above the Earth using a Valve Index headset.
For the second demonstration, Mrs Farris tried out Magic Leap goggles – a wearable spatial computer which gives the user the experience of being surrounded by virtual 3D objects.
Mrs Farris said the experience on Friday, March 6, had been very surreal.
She said: “It was completely immersive.
“It was like hovering above Westminster, plunging down to ground level and then zooming back out to the Moon.
“The first headset was like you were living in a sat-nav, but with a 3D experience, and the other was more like a fantasy film where there were humans you can see, animations and holograms.”
Mrs Farris – who succeeded Richard Benyon as MP following her election victory in December – went on to explain the importance of community events and meeting local people and businesses.
She said: “These kinds of visits are the essence of the job – getting to know who’s doing what, who’s employing who, what the nature of the businesses are and what challenges they face.
“Often people want to talk about something where I can intervene, and there’s usually something I can do.
“I went to a school today and they had three things they really wanted me to raise with the Department for Education.
“I’m definitely in a unique position because the truth of the matter is you can speak to the secretary of state or one of their junior ministers.
“You are the point between your constituency and the decision maker and that’s a really nice thing to do as you make the case for your constituent.”
Parachute business manager Hilary Bowsher, who extended the invitation to Mrs Farris, said the MPs enthusiasm was “palpable”.
She said: “We were really pleased that Laura was so willing and enthusiastic about engaging with us.
“Obviously as a small business, any show of support is really important to us and knowing that reaching out to her was as simple as contacting her office is great.
“She was really happy and excited to come in.”
