Get the latest direct to your inbox twice a week. Sign up today. 
The need for speed
The spinning wheel of death, the buffering bar, ‘waiting for’ [insert website name here], that sickening modem dial-up sound. Humans really don’t like waiting these days. And Swedish broadband provider Ume.net has showed just annoying delays are in the real world with an entertaining experiment called ‘Living with lag‘.
To prove its tagline ‘You wouldn’t accept lag offline, so why do it online?’, the company, with the help of ANR BBDO and production company Stopp, set up an experiment where four participants went through their daily routine for two days using a combination of (recently acquired) Oculus Rift, Rasperry Pi, a webcam and noise canceling headphones. The combination simulated lag, either a 0.33-second delay, or a 3-second delay. And, as you can see, it made for fairly entertaining results as they struggle to do aerobics, play table tennis, bake, eat and bowl. It’s almost like a more modern version of soccer with binoculars.
And speaking of Oculus Rift, this response to a virtual rollercoaster could either be the best or worst ad for the device.
