The paper screen doors of the Japanese tea house in front of me shatter, the pieces folding
into paper cranes that fly away, exposing an ornate garden and stream.
All because I popped a glowing blue orb into my mouth.
I taste an (actual) crispy tuna tartare bite. Another orb appears and as I begin to chew, the scenery goes from winter to spring.
A final, green orb appears -- really a chocolate truffle covered in pop rocks -- and the light dims as the garden setting shifts to nighttime.My mouth still tingles with pop rocks as I remove my HTC Vive virtual reality headset. All of a sudden, I'm back in a pop-up Japanese bar-style restaurant set up in a Brooklyn warehouse by Royal Caribbean.
That VR snack was just one concept that Royal Caribbean showed off Wednesday as it presented its vision of what's in store for cruise ships. The company touted the stateroom of the future, facial recognition systems and self-driving shuttles -- all illustrations of the ways it plans to make the cruising experience easier. Or, if you really take advantage of some of these innovations, how it plans to help you be as lazy as you want to be. (Yes, we're inching ever closer to that space cruise liner in Wall-E.) https://www.cnet.com/news/royal-caribbeans-high-tech-ship-lets-you-be-lazier-than-ever-vr-self-driving-shuttles/
