Even the tinfoil helmet can't save you

Very interesting story about a virtual reality "hallucination machine" being used by Iowa cops to better understand their confrontations with the mentally ill.

"Things flash out of nowhere. Small voices saying, 'Go get your medication.' The bus driver is talking to you normally and all of a sudden he starts calling you 'Your Highness.' Then he becomes part of the hallucination," says Tieszen. "It's a whole busload of children, then it changes to a busload of adults. There's a nurse involved. You see normal things and then all of a sudden someone pulls up next to you and says, 'Get off the bus.' "
At one point, the driver picks up a microphone and talks to a dispatcher.
When he finishes he says, "They like to keep track of me."
Then a small voice tells the wearer: "They want to keep track of you."

I put the over/under on this machine being co-opted by drug enthusiasts at 30 days. You have to admit, it sounds pretty bitchin'.

¶ Thursday, March 23, 2006