Thrilling and terrifying VR… for a good cause

If you know me well, then you know that flying over the rainforest canopy, 300 ft. above the ground, tethered to a single cable 2,400 ft. in length is not exactly my cup of tea. So you will have to excuse some of the language in the video below. But I have to give it up to the team at “Flight of the Gibbon” in Chiang Mai, Thailand, for an unforgettable experience. This was a family trip that Tara booked, and it was by far the wildest zip line adventure we’d ever been on—actually it was the first for Dominic (age 6)! I have to admit the view is stunning. It was probably the closest experience to Avatar that I’ll ever have. 

I have much more footage from this expedition which I’ll soon be posting (along with an elephant sanctuary trip and a white water rafting excursion!) but I didn’t want to wait to share this one clip. Below is 360° footage taken from a handheld Ricoh Theta S. I’m still not certain of the best applications for these VR cameras; as you can see, a well-placed wide angle lens might have actually provided a more immersive visual experience. But it is clearly a sign of things to come, in terms of high-definition virtual reality. And since you can’t exactly force yourself to face one direction when you are hanging suspended at the will of this terrifying seat-belt-in-the-sky (at least I can’t), it does ensure that every angle is captured. I’d love to hear more feedback, and I’m looking forward to seeing what people produce with the new line of 4K 360° cameras coming out now.

We didn’t see any gibbons in the jungle—not that I would have gotten a very good look at them anyway. I am told that there is a family of four of these apes living in this rainforest, but the rest have either died or moved out. Gibbons are threatened all over the region by hunting and (now illegal) logging.

Here’s the video of the entire experience (not in 360):

This, from the Flight of the Gibbon website:

Real wildlife and forest conservation, funded by you!

• Approx. 2.5h of Ziplining + lunch + waterfall walk + 1 hour van ride each way
  A combination of Ziplines, abseiling, sky bridges and forest walks with some stations suspended very high up above the valley floor and One of Asia’s longest single Zipline flights
  2 sky rangers with each group, trained to keep you safe and point everything unique to the beautiful rainforest preserve
  Located in the beautiful eco-mountain village of Mae Kampong
  Complementary transport to and from your accommodation in our air conditioned vans
  A delicious local style lunch with locally farmed coffee is included

Flight of the Gibbon is Serious about Safety

The safety of our visitors is paramount. Our Zipline courses have been constructed by industry leading team of international experts who have decades of experience. The top quality equipment we use comes from Europe and exceeds all necessary international safety standards. We construct and operate our Zipline to the standards set by the American organisation, Association for Challenge Course Technology (ACCT).

Read more about Flight of the Gibbon’s conservation and reforestation efforts here.