Augmented Reality Study

I got the email for the second part of the study. It just provided a link to open on my phone app and asked me to select a Saturday this month. The only requirements is that I consent to the privacy protocol and that I tour the facility before I make the final decision to agree to continue the study. I thought why not, the last experience was a disconcerting but not exactly an unpleasant ride.

On my chosen Saturday, I was told that I'll be picked up by a representative from the facility. 6:30am, I was at the lobby of my apartment and a Toyota van pulled up. It had those fancy self-opening doors which revealed a familiar face sitting inside. "Good morning John, I'm glad you decided to give the study a shot." It was Grace, same bombshell blonde who I think I met before. She extended her hand and pulled me into the van and gestured for me to take a seat. It was a comfortable van complete with commander seats for me and Grace.

Grace handed me a small cup with two pills and a bottle of water. She said its for the privacy portion of the trip; the research facility is in a secret location. I drank the pills and joked, if I'd need to wear a blindfold as well. Grace only smiled and said she arranged for a special experience just for me. As Grace smiled, a black hood was shoved over my head and I slipped into unconsciousness.

I woke up in a brightly lit room, lying on a cot. There was a note on the side table, telling me to freshen up, drink extra water and to wear the robe provided. There was also a reminder on my phone that public areas of the facility are observed by camera and that the app has disabled most of the phone's functionalities and if I would agree, they can screen my calls or messages for emergencies or urgent matters. This I declined.

When I finished freshening up and got the robe on, I noticed my phone had a prompt. to press the "ready" button when I'm ready. I pressed the button expecting the door to open suddenly. It did open a few minutes later when Grace, wearing a lab coat, walked in followed by someone wearing a full body suit. Grace motioned to the person in the suit and smiled, she said that she is sure its something I've seen before. I blushed. She explained that the study I'm considering to participate in has a lot to do with the white body suit. Its a second generation suit that can simulate some external stimuli, this partnered with some virtual/augmented reality technology can provide a pretty realistic experience as I would know. The suit is also tailored to mesh well with augmented reality goggles, allowing suit wearers to appear a certain way to those wearing goggles. It can also augment or partially restrict the wearer's mobility. The applications are vast but the study focuses on a very specific branch of application - human sexuality. Grace gestured to the suit and the suit retracted to open up portions of the body, an arm, a hand, the mouth and the chest. She emphasized that some stimulation cannot easily replicated, she spanked the bum of the person wearing a suit. Grace stepped outside briefly and handed me a tray with another white suit on it. she told me to wear it and step outside to meet her

I got out of the robes and started wearing the suit. It seemed heavier than it looked like, very similar to a diver's wet suit. when I wore the mask portion, I saw it had a built in visor and audio speaker. The suit flashed a quick photo for me to hold my hands and legs out like a giant "X" with a count down timer to the suit sealing me in. on zero, the mask melded into the neck of the body suit and the back portion sealed up on its own. it felt a little tight but largely comfortable. The mask was pretty light and provided a similar view as the visor that I had for the initial part of the study. I walked to the door and it opened to reveal a long corridor and an eager Grace waiting for me.

Grace said that to fully appreciate the Augmented Reality Project (ARP) I need to appreciate the roots of the study. The suit has an earlier version that's designed to interact with a different program. We walked to the first window, it looked into a room where a middle-aged lady was getting into a black and thicker version of the suit but the suit didn't fully seal behind her neck. The suit sealed up tight highlighting the lady's curves. The lady then walked to a chair in the middle of the room and sat down.

A small team of people wearing lab coats walked in and strapped the lady's arms and legs to the chair and attached what seemed to be a wide electrode on the lady's neck before the suit closed up leaving just the thick wires jutting out. Grace started to explain that the suit was first designed to work as a body enhancement project, nothing more than something to prevent infection by sealing up as much skin as possible and to effectively restrain persons during the procedures. Later, the suit was adopted for use in a project that allowed people to share sensation/stimulation with partners. The electrode placed in the neck allowed a suit wearer to partially experience what another person is experiencing.

Grace further explained that the older suit allows the wearer to access various cameras individually or at the same time. The woman on the chair started to breathe heavily and writhe on her chair. Grace explained that this older project is called Synchronicity, since its first goal was to allow partners to not just to synchronize orgasms but to experience how their partners orgasms are. The later development of the project allowed the experience not to be limited just to climax but to the whole gamut of sexual experience. as Grace wound down her explanation, the lady on the chair started to slightly convulse and then slump on to the chair.

We walked a bit towards the other end of the corridor and it showed another room, this time it featured 2 devices that's a cross between a bondage bench and a motorcycle in the middle of the room. A man and a woman walked in, their body suit fully revealing their faces. they shared a deep kiss and each mounted a device. Grace explained that Project Synchronicity grew to the point where some wanted a more intimate experience. A neural interface was developed, consider it a data port on the base of the person's neck. a cable can be attached and direct impulse from the brain can be copied and transmitted to another user... or impulse can be directly downloaded into the user. think of it as figuring into someone's fantasy or sharing one. I noticed the couple grip the handle of the device and slowly rotate it until it locks in a vertical position. unlike in the previous room, straps automatically deploy to secure the couple on the device while their suits open at the neck. as the straps tighten, the skin on the couple's neck started to dry up and portions of it crumble to reveal an indentation and a round port, similar to a microphone jack or the one for earphones. two mechanical arms appeared from the ceiling and slowly brought what appeared to be a thick needle to the couple's neck areas. aligning lasers fired from the device zeroing in on the port at the couple's necks.

Grace explained that the installation of neural ports, while mostly safe, is viewed to be a bit extreme by some. the ports are surgically connected to the base of the spine and the data probe actually dips into the soft tissue in the spinal cord to send or receive electrical impulses to and from the brain. as Grace was explaining, the couple both tensed up and started to struggle as the neural probe was slowly inserted. Grace explained that the probe insertion causes some momentary interference in the spine causing muscles to spasm. its important to immobilize the body for this procedure to prevent any injury. Grace explained that once two or more people are connected via a physical neural probe, it is possible for them not to just share sensations but to cause sensations to the other, within some limits. The couple stopped struggling. as we walked away, the couple's suits opened up in the genital area to show the man sporting a raging hard on, the skin on the head being tight as a drum. while the woman was visibly wet.

Grace led me to one more window and in the room was Eve (my co-worker who standing beside another device just like from the previous room. Grace turned to me and asked "So, are you interested in proceeding with the study?"

(to be continued)