I’ve been watching Marvel’s Daredevil on Netflix. The basic premise is that the superhero is blind, and because he is blind, he uses his other senses, including hearing, touch, smell and proprioception, to a highly enhanced degree.
Our hero can focus on the changing sound of a heartbeat to hear somebody lurking in the shadows, or sense a bullet quickly enough to dodge it in time. He can stop an opponent with a well aimed twirl and kick even if that opponent is coming up from behind.
Since I was a kid I’ve thought of Daredevil as a wonderful premise. Not only does it turn the whole “disabilities” concept on its head, but it also gets kids thinking about talents and capabilities other than the obvious ones. The not so hidden message: You too can be a superhero, even if everyone around you thinks you are a misfit.
Watching this show now I find myself thinking about the future of virtual reality. Maria Lantin and I recently performed a dance duet in a downtown Manhattan gallery, both of us dancing while wearing VR headsets. I think this may have been the first time that a dance was performed by two people who could see the physical world only through VR.
During the entire dance we were both literally blind in the sense that our headsets blocked our view of the physical world around us. Yet we could both see an alternate view of that world, one that showed not only each other, but also choreography, sight lines, and hints as to what was behind us.
In a way we were experiencing a cyber-enabled version of Daredevil’s alternate perception of the world. During the performance I felt very good, as though I was seeing reality in a whole new way.
It’s possible I was getting a glimpse into the future.