Man Sets World Record With 25 Continuous Hours In Virtual Reality (roadtovr.com)

An anonymous reader writes: Derek Westerman has made it in the Guinness Book of World Records by spending 25 straight hours in virtual reality. He used the HTC Vive and spent his entire time playing Tilt Brush. "Guinness has a whole set of rules and regulations, one of those being 'one game only the whole time.' I wanted to pick something that gave me the most freedom," Westerman says, "And painting in 3D space for 25 hours seemed like the best bet." At around the 17th hour mark, Westerman reportedly experienced some vertigo and threw up into a bucket provided for him by an assistant. The same bucket was used around the 6th hour mark when Westerman had to urinate. Then around the 21st hour, he starts babbling incoherently while waving the Vive controllers around, saying at one point, "I don't know where I'm at..." The video of the event has been released on Wednesday, even though Guinness lists the record as being achieved on April 7th.

Comments

Duration

[muphin]

So we know after 16hours to take a 5min break then get back to the pr0n

Re:Duration

[PopeRatzo]

Remember to keep yourself hydrated...

And lubricated, for god's sake. Nothing worse than rope burns on your tallywhacker.

Would have been easier...

[NicknameUnavailable]

...if he hadn't picked such a shitty "game." I'd throw up too if I had to "play" MS Paint for 25 hours straight.

Re:Would have been easier...

[UnderCoverPenguin]

Seems to me that an actual game like World of Warcraft, Guild Wars or EVE would have been less boring. One of my cousins wonders if the rules would have excluded Second Life as it's not a game itself, but a "world" with many different things to do, including various games. (She plays in Second Life.)

Re:Would have been easier...

[Anonymous Coward]

There are no games out like that for VR. Youve got tech demos and short games you can finish in a few hours. Vive has it the worst. There are a few multi-player games, but they are likely to intense. He could have wandered around Vanishing of Ethan Carter i guess or driven endlessly in project cars.

Re:Would have been easier...

[UnderCoverPenguin]

FWIW, my cousin says that Second Life supposedly supports one of the VR headsets. She thinks Oculus, but doesn't have a VR headset, so isn't sure.

A friend of mine has an Oculus (dev version). Besides working on his own 3D apps, he uses it for gaming, even games that weren't designed for VR, let alone the Oculus. I tried it once. There was no depth perception, so was similar to sitting right on front of large monitor (or front row seat at an IMAX movie (non-3D)).

Re:Would have been easier...

[Coren22]

Such as Eve Valkyrie?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

I'm sceptic his symptoms were about being in VR

[ffkom]

I've recently toyed around with "Tilt Brush" in VR using a Vive, and while it might be not as boring as the "Job Simulator", it became pretty boring after 15 minutes or so. Doing "Tilt Brush" for 25 hours sounds dangerous to your mental health - not because of VR!

Re:I'm sceptic his symptoms were about being in VR

[Yxven]

I've recently toyed around with "Tilt Brush" in VR using a Vive, and while it might be not as boring as the "Job Simulator", it became pretty boring after 15 minutes or so. Doing "Tilt Brush" for 25 hours sounds dangerous to your mental health - not because of VR!

Tilt Brush is just a creative paint program. Plenty of people paint for hours for fun.

Re:I'm sceptic his symptoms were about being in VR

[Theaetetus]

I've recently toyed around with "Tilt Brush" in VR using a Vive, and while it might be not as boring as the "Job Simulator", it became pretty boring after 15 minutes or so. Doing "Tilt Brush" for 25 hours sounds dangerous to your mental health - not because of VR!

Agreed, but not the boredom... Tilt Brush is just a black background (plus whatever you create), so there's no horizon to orient yourself to. He would've had an easier time with something with a horizon, like Job Simulator, or even the Roman Villa demo.

Re:I'm sceptic his symptoms were about being in VR

[rtb61]

Sounds dangerously like a scam. Creatively painting, often contemplating a blank screen with your eyes closed, does that really count, say compared to playing a first person shooter et al which is what they will sell to children. Sounds like some pretty ass hat public relations bullshit to me :|. Let's see the first person shooter endurance trials, team against team (4 on 4 or 8 on 8 or even 16 on 16), MMO and see how longs those teams last against each other, SCORE WISE INCLUDED (no empty public relations bull with people barely being active).

Re:I'm sceptic his symptoms were about being in VR

[martinfb]

... Doing "Tilt Brush" for 25 hours sounds dangerous to your mental health - not because of VR!

As clearly evidenced by what happened in this case.

typo

[slazzy]

The real game is called tit and bush.

Does spending 17 hours stright

[future assassin]

on WBS.net Ravers chat back in early 1997 count?

Re:Does spending 17 hours stright

[ItsJustAPseudonym]

That depends. Did you use a bucket?

Re:Does spending 17 hours stright

[future assassin]

Good one...

small record

[Anonymous Coward]

Kevin Flynn has this record beat by more than 25 years!

I've got that beat

[Flexagon]

I've been in VR my entire life.

More detail, please

[suupaabaka]

After his experience, he said “There is a definitely a difference between my life before and after spending days in Virtual Reality. I was marked by it. And now, in an exciting way, everything feels slightly superficial or unreal.”

I want to know how, how it's affected his daily life, and whether that unreality is starting to pass. I've read quite a bit about the effects of LSD and psilocybin, and would like to know if there are any similarities.

It's a pity there wasn't a team of researchers there with him...

Re:More detail, please

[Ryanrule]

now do vr on lsd. just hope you can find your way back into your mind.

Re:More detail, please

[kimvette]

I get a similar effect if I play Minecraft for a few hours; I start looking at rooms and objects in rooms in terms of how many blocks they would be, and that effect remains for several hours.

What's the point of this record?

[BlueCoder]

Just strap a vibe to the head to one of those people that don't sleep. It's the same as staying awake period. Where is the added difficulty in wearing a VR headset?

Re:Sounds like he has a problem

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

Did you understand the episode?

25 HOURS? That's it?

[damn_registrars]

Puh-leeze. We have slashdot members who have been living in virtual reality for years.

Guiness Book of Western World Records

[Pseudonymous Powers]

Is just 25 hours really a world record? It sounds like the kind of thing a South Korean might do by accident.

Re:Guiness Book of Western World Records

[fbobraga]

I did 30 hours in VR Minecraft the day it was released

hint: a day has only 24h

Re:Lawnmower Man

[Z80a]

Hey donte, don't you have some demons to slay at 30 fps or something?

dangerous things

[iggymanz]

Guinness stopped doing records for things like quantity of food or drink ingested because of health dangers. Sleep deprivation is dangerous too though this man wasn't into the recognized danger zone yet

Re:dangerous things

[duke_cheetah2003]

Guinness stopped doing records for things like quantity of food or drink ingested because of health dangers. Sleep deprivation is dangerous too though this man wasn't into the recognized danger zone yet

Sleep deprivation only really becomes an issue around 30-40 hours. Speaking from experience. I do have to wonder if the guy fasted the entire time though. It's really only an impressive feat if he went 25 hours without food and drink. And that mixed bag of deprivation would be pretty unhealthy, too.

Re:dangerous things

[Sir Holo]

Guinness stopped doing records for things like quantity of food or drink ingested because of health dangers. Sleep deprivation is dangerous too though this man wasn't into the recognized danger zone yet

Sleep deprivation only really becomes an issue around 30-40 hours. Speaking from experience. I do have to wonder if the guy fasted the entire time though. It's really only an impressive feat if he went 25 hours without food and drink. And that mixed bag of deprivation would be pretty unhealthy, too.

I had thought that sleep deprivation caused serious consequences at 7+ days, but was corrected recently. Right here on /.

I do mid-30's w/focus, without any chemical assists like Ritalin, a few times a year.

So yeah, and I'm not insane... Hmmn... Looking over my last decade of /. posts, maybe there is something to that 30-40 hour thing after all...

Can you publish in Nature and be insane at the same time? I cannot tell, which seems to meet the definition.

Re:dangerous things

[Sir Holo]

As someone with a circadian rhythm disorder, I end up doing around 28 hrs about 2-3 times a month. I probably go over that a few times a year. These are up all night can't sleep, crap now I've got to go to work for the next 9 hours. Then when I get home I'm not tired and stay up all night again. You get used to it. Not that you should want to, but your body adapts.

I also went 2.5 days without food or water before I started passing out from it (was really depressed). One day without food and drink is nothing as long as you aren't exercising at the same time. It's ok to be hungry. We never used to be full all the time.

Apply for SSDI (Disability)!!! That will gain you the right under the ADA to have accommodations made for your sleep schedule – if it is determined to be a "disability". Don't let the word put you off. It is just one gov't dept's use of a term. I does not mean that you are broken!!! So, stiff upper lip. Inquire with a disability attorney, NOT your physician directly (it's like asking for a prescription for morphine to them...). The attorney will assess and advise.

Humans did not evolve to adhere to this crazy 9-to-5 shit. Nor to sit in chairs. In rows and columns.

Personally, when without responsibilities (i.e., on vacation), I naturally go into the 'medieval' "two-sleep cycle". Bed at 10:00 pm. Awaken around 3:00 am. Do stuff for 2–4 hours (take a walk, read, write, code, make the wife happy, etc.). Back to bed around 6:00 am. Awaken for "the day" at 10:00 am or so.

When I let my brain and body have the sleep cycle they naturally need, I become far more alert during waking hours. Like, light-switch-on alert at 3:00 am sharp. In normal life, I use that time when I can. Undoubtedly, if unshackled from the "9-to-5" grind, will find your body falling into this rhythm, too. Just one rule: No TV, computer, or other lighted display after 9:00 pm.

The above is far preferable to "paying for sleep" via pharmaceuticals. Say "Hello!" to the Ambien Walrus for me.

21 hours and he's lost it?

[Sir Holo]

So the guy started babbling incoherently at hour 21? What a light-weight!

I've done 70 (w/a 3-hr nap at 24).

I can perform solid efforts in the mid-30's of hours once every month or two (and I am in my late 40's). I stop when I have to re-read a sentence twice—That indicates the end of coherent conscious thinking. That is when you whip out the Post-Its because you have 5 minutes of semi-coherence left—So mark where you left off well!

Re:21 hours and he's lost it?

[Sir Holo]

Out of interest what task was this? It appears reading related. Study perhaps? Coding?

I'll answer the 30+-ers first. As Richard Feynman said (roughly), "To perform an intellectually intensive task, one necessarily requires a significant amount of uninterrupted time to commit to the work."

I work in many disparate fields. That means, when a major task in one arena is ready – to be analyzed, or more typically, written-up – a major block of time must be committed to it. You first have to get everything loaded into your working memory, which can take several hours.

Having invested those hours, you use as much 'juice' as you have to make use of having this colossal, focused set of data and related publications all in your working memory. Only then can you begin to make broad-view correlations. Or, alternatively, write a 35-page REVIEW article for a journal, which references absolutely everyone who has contributed to the field in the past, exactly what they contributed, and where it fits into the mosaic and story that you have been ruminating for months. If your giant, authoritative REVIEW, with its 250+ References, each succinctly described and properly Cited, is to be assembled. . . and is to be "The Authoritative Reference" on the topic.

Well, that is when the 30+-ers are done. The goal is not the time spent. No, no, no. It is making best use of the motherlode of primary-source information that you have taken several hours to load into your head (working memory, the active part). You STOP when the mind's attention begins to fray. Then, you STOP. Immediately.

Finally, responding to another Commenter: After you recover, the first thing you do is to read through and edit what you have written. With time, you will learn what signals your brain gives you when it is about to crash. Armed with that knowledge, you learn to stop before protracted and focused effort loses quality.

I'm just lucky to have noticed my own ability for this at an early age, and have refined my self-awareness to the point that I can do this. But only when absolutely necessary. It is painful. And during such marathons, your attention cannot be diverted for more than a minute or two... say, when the wife comes home and wants to chat. My wife is the same way---When inspiration strikes, she will do the same. It's fortunate to be with someone that understands how bursts of creativity work.

It is, of course, "time-shifting", but is far more than that. Yes, recovery afterwards is required. But when your working memory is filled with a single, complex topic – or when creative inspiration hits you – you must make the most use of it while 'the iron is hot'.

If it hits in the middle of the night, GO AND DO! If you can 'pre-lag' your sleep, and clear your calendar in anticipation of such an exertion, then do so.

Oh, to answer your question: Was it coding? Occasionally. More often, it has been marathons of data-collection on difficult-to-access instruments, analyzing a massive data-set (often one appearing non-contiguous upon casual observation), writing-up a massive work, or simply scribbling down a thunderbolt of inspiration that has struck you – as fast as you can, while it is still in your mind. You will not 'remember it in the morning'. Every creative should keep pen and paper on their night-stand.

It's like a freight train. You can't pause or divert. And if you do not do it when your brain is ready to go, go, go, then the opportunity will have been wasted.

Re:21 hours and he's lost it?

[Sir Holo]

Also when doing work as opposed to screwing around after about hour 10 I start turning into a vegetable. Am I a weakling? Maybe. I've put in my fair share of all nighters followed by a short (unplanned) nap followed by another all nighter.

When you wake up and still feel tired and look at your clock and realize that you've only had 8 hours of sleep in the last 72, this isn't usually an accomplishment and generally whatever you were doing now falls behind while you catch up on sleep. Hopefully you didn't make any mistakes either, that will set you back farther.

Agreed. If you exert effort when your brain feels "fried", then you are indeed wasting your time.

If your mind remains focused, be it by passion or fear or inspiration, then go with it. Everyone is different.

The opposite is true. One day, you might have four good hours in you. The next, 12 hours. We humans are meat-bags, not robots. Intellectual productivity is maximized when a person discards that "9-to-5" crap, and uses the juice when it flows.

"When attention frays, I call it a day." – Sir Holo

Re:Virtual Time?

[Sir Holo]

He goes back in time to urinate in the bucket he threw up in?

Yeah. Fetishes. I can't explain them either.

Well this won't stand for long

[ShooterNeo]

On a serious note, if you are allowed to sleep - which the text description of the record seems to indicate to me - people will rack up a month to a year, easy, soon enough. Technically since the VR headsets are low voltage electronics, it makes me wonder if you could make a waterproof version so you could shower your funky ass off without removing it.

Hmmm

[Hognoxious]

Kind of surprised that the record is so low, but isn't this basically an exercise in staying awake?

Wait for koreans...

[Parker Lewis]

Wait until Starcraft get VR in South Korea.

Great. More dead gamers.

[Chas]

So we can look forward to a future of people who plonk down in front of a box, don't move and die of blood clots?

YAY!

Does playing Descent count?

[angel'o'sphere]

I certainly played more hours than 25h Descent in one row except for going to the toilet.

And our multiplayer sessions often reached easily 10 hours.

Re:Does playing Descent count?

[jlb.think]

I certainly played more hours than 25h Descent in one row except for going to the toilet.

And our multiplayer sessions often reached easily 10 hours.

From the Descent FAQ;

-- [5e] ---------- I'm having hallucinations when I look away from the monitor.

You've been playing far too long, and you need sleep. Go take a nap. :)

Come on don't let a little off monitor hallucination get to you. Who didn't see the game when you closed your eyes?

Re:I did it for 56 hours straight

[michelcolman]

I wonder how far these record attempts are going to go. Before long, people will be spending a year in VR to beat the record.

VR humans lowest bidder to run civilization

[TheRealHocusLocus]

I, for one, would gladly welcome our new basement VR overlords, since the arrival of the robot overlords has been delayed by driverless traffic gridlock (a sandbag is blocking a turning lane somewhere as we speak).

Operating heavy equipment and backhoes in all kinds of weather, performing critical tasks requiring precise coordination and at times unorthodox methods, including descent into dangerous confined spaces to repair water and sewer mains, where one is drenched in icy water attempting to digout, clean and clamp a spraying pipe while staring at a 7kV electrical conduit... we had long realized that some day there will be robots.

So imagine our surprise when a robot showed up at the job site the other day.

It was walking funny with its arms outstretched in front of it. It picked up a small shovel and started digging as if it was holding a paintbrush. We moved it gently aside and started our trench excavation to expose and fix the leaking water main, figuring that someone would soon show up to tell us what was going on.

At around the three hour mark the robot walked to the edge of our trench and adopted a posture, hands fumbling at its metal 'hips', unmistakably that of a man leaning over to piss on a fence. The guy in the trench looked up in horror but when no stream emerged everyone broke out in fits of laughter. Soon after the robot fell into the trench and continued to make weird sweeping motions, digging at the walls with its shovel. We set back to work and ignored it.

Then as we were tightening the clamp on the water pipe the robot wiggled up to it, bumping the aside the fellow who was tightening it and and spoke, loudly, for the first time through a speaker. "I don't know where I'm at..." it said. Then it strated making retching noises as if it was vomiting onto the water pipe. Again nothing actually came out thankfully, but it was just too much. We roared with laughter this time and someone suggested. "Sure buddy, that's pretty obvious by now," we said. "Why don't you just go home and sleep it off."

The robot continued its strange sweeping motions nicking the sides of the trench with its little shovel, but we were done and it was time to finish up. We put a chain around it and lifted it out of the trench with the backhoe bucket and set it down some distance away, and it wandered off mumbling.

When we got back I informed my supervisor that the robot test was interesting for sure, but it didn't go too well. She asked, "What robot test?"

Since that strange encounter we don't worry so much that robots will replace our jobs any more. In fact, we've made it known that we would not mind if a robot joined the crew. We would look after it and keep it from getting into trouble, and it would help relieve the occasional drudgery and boredom.

Can't be the record...

[martinfb]

I know people that have been living in another reality for decades! If it's not the 'real' world, then it must ve some kind of virtual. For example, take Donald Trump.... Need I say more?!