One of the many downsides of going on a cruise—beyond the fact that you are on a cruise—is that not all of the rooms on a cruise-ship have views of the ocean. That’s is too bad, because the ocean is great. In fact, the ocean is pretty much the only good part of being on a cruise. It is probably a large reason (perhaps the only reason) why you’d decide to go on one in the first place.
The cruise line Royal Caribbean recognizes this, so it’s teamed up with the design firm Control Group to develop “virtual balconies.”
A virtual balcony is an 80-inch, high-definition screen displaying real-time video streamed from Ultra-HD cameras mounted on the exterior of the ship.
Why stop there, though? Why not go full Fahrenheit 451 “parlor wall”-style, surrounding yourself with floor-to-ceiling screens to transport you anywhere in the world from the comfort of your own home?
I went on a cruise once. Our room had a balcony that looked out into the interior of the ship. It was weird.
H/T NY1 | Image via Roger Wollstadt/Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)