Every once in a while, I find a web site of such studied weirdness that I can't figure out whether it's a hoax or not. Live-Shot is one such site. According to its self-description, it is a telepresence hunting experience: Log onto the Live-Shot system, and you use your computer to remotely take control of a .22-caliber rifle. Become a member for $15, and you enjoy a refreshing break at work by virtually blowing the crap out of a paper target. And if that's not quite cybernetically manly enough for ya, just hold on for a bit -- they'll soon be launching a new system that lets you actually kill animals. As the site notes:
That Corsican Sheep above is an example of the creatures who will soon be feeling the rage of some insurance adjuster in Poughkeepsie. If there is any part of your mind left unblown, I guide your attention to a video of the system in action.
Posted by Clive Thompson at November 19, 2004 08:09 PM
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry: http://www.collisiondetection.net/mt3/mt-tb.cgi/1044
Cool! Assassination tech!
Posted by: Jonathan Hayes at November 20, 2004 9:02 AM
Sick, sick, sick. It's only a matter of time before someone with a stack of dollars somewhere in the developed world plays a similarly macabre game with a band of cameraphone equipped thugs somewhere in the undereveloped world.
Posted by: daniel luke at November 20, 2004 10:11 PM
There's probably a business model in there somewhere.
Posted by: Clive at November 21, 2004 8:32 PM
"What a purty animal. I think I'll blow its brains out!"
I will never understand hunting, virtual or otherwise.
Posted by: june at November 22, 2004 1:21 PM
Yea this is great. I heard about it on the radio here in the ATL...Being in server support sometimes you need a gun to blow of some steam...now we really can :-)
Posted by: Ian at November 22, 2004 4:12 PM
I understand hunting for eating, I mean, if you eat meat you should at least accept the possibility of doing the work by yourself...
...I hate hunting as a "sport", to collect "game" and hang it in your living room.
This here is really sick because it puts a screen between prey and hunter, so that every respect for the prey can be easily abandoned. Hunt a buck properly, gut it with a knife and transport it for 10 miles, then you will know if you want to go through all that again. Kill it on a PC, it's just another stupid game but an animal dies and maybe even with a lot of suffering...
On the other hand I "hunt" humans every week-end playng Soft Air... °-P
Posted by: Mario at November 23, 2004 7:20 AM
I understand the physics-fun-challenge of hitting target with a rifle; I can totally understand why gun nuts like guns (like Palm Pilots or cars or computers, they're another thing to go all techie-gearhead-crazy over). But yeah, the idea of hitting a live animal -- absent the need to do so for survival -- would make my skin crawl.
It's much like the reaction I had to the JFK game, which I posted about yesterday. First-person-shooters are fun when they're relatively abstract; however, load in a recognizable figure who actually died tragically, and the emotional import of the game suddenly becomes queasy.
Posted by: Clive at November 23, 2004 9:22 AM
This all leads back to our old discussion on the use of human shaped targets in military training...
...Remember?
Posted by: Mario at November 23, 2004 10:06 AM
Posted by: Clive at November 29, 2004 6:50 AM
Posted by: online poker at January 26, 2005 6:06 PM
Posted by: online poker at January 29, 2005 11:21 AM
Posted by: online poker at February 1, 2005 2:14 AM
Cool! Assassination tech!
Posted by: Jonathan Hayes at November 20, 2004 9:02 AM
Sick, sick, sick. It's only a matter of time before someone with a stack of dollars somewhere in the developed world plays a similarly macabre game with a band of cameraphone equipped thugs somewhere in the undereveloped world.
Posted by: daniel luke at November 20, 2004 10:11 PM
There's probably a business model in there somewhere.
Posted by: Clive at November 21, 2004 8:32 PM
"What a purty animal. I think I'll blow its brains out!"
I will never understand hunting, virtual or otherwise.
Posted by: june at November 22, 2004 1:21 PM
Yea this is great. I heard about it on the radio here in the ATL...Being in server support sometimes you need a gun to blow of some steam...now we really can :-)
Posted by: Ian at November 22, 2004 4:12 PM
I understand hunting for eating, I mean, if you eat meat you should at least accept the possibility of doing the work by yourself...
...I hate hunting as a "sport", to collect "game" and hang it in your living room.
This here is really sick because it puts a screen between prey and hunter, so that every respect for the prey can be easily abandoned. Hunt a buck properly, gut it with a knife and transport it for 10 miles, then you will know if you want to go through all that again. Kill it on a PC, it's just another stupid game but an animal dies and maybe even with a lot of suffering...
On the other hand I "hunt" humans every week-end playng Soft Air... °-P
Posted by: Mario at November 23, 2004 7:20 AM
I understand the physics-fun-challenge of hitting target with a rifle; I can totally understand why gun nuts like guns (like Palm Pilots or cars or computers, they're another thing to go all techie-gearhead-crazy over). But yeah, the idea of hitting a live animal -- absent the need to do so for survival -- would make my skin crawl.
It's much like the reaction I had to the JFK game, which I posted about yesterday. First-person-shooters are fun when they're relatively abstract; however, load in a recognizable figure who actually died tragically, and the emotional import of the game suddenly becomes queasy.
Posted by: Clive at November 23, 2004 9:22 AM
This all leads back to our old discussion on the use of human shaped targets in military training...
...Remember?
Posted by: Mario at November 23, 2004 10:06 AM
Yes!
Posted by: Clive at November 29, 2004 6:50 AM
54 http://www.online-poker-web.net
online poker
Posted by: online poker at January 26, 2005 6:06 PM
6380 want to play online poker mate?
Posted by: online poker at January 29, 2005 11:21 AM
2180 want to play online poker mate?
Posted by: online poker at February 1, 2005 2:14 AM