A few firsts for this episode. This is the first regular episode where Mark took over the lead host role – he’d previously hosted only the on tour episodes before. It’s also the first one recorded specifically so our guest could get started on a book chapter. Dom came to us with his chapter brief and we had a chat based on that. It’s also the first one where we’re talking about classical literature rather than pop culture.

The idea was that we’d take Homer’s Odyssey as a framework and talk about VR experiences through that structure. So … take a stage from the Odyssey, describe what happens, apply that to VR, then onto the next. Two issues were apparent after our first hour of recording. One is that there are a lot of stages in the Odyssey. It’s a big book. The other is that both Rebecca and Mark both have a lot to say about VR. This could have been a miniseries in itself.

The solution was to just pick a few key Odyssey events from those that we discussed and chop out the rest. If you’re following the story, just be aware there’s some huge bits removed. If you’re keen on filling in the blanks, then below is a list of the all the stages – with an x next to the stage that didn’t make the cut.

Departures

1 Athena’s call to adventure and getting started with VR

Adventures

2 Lotus eaters and distraction

3 Polyphemus the Cyclops and the big bads of VR x

4 Aeolius and the bag of winds and navigating VR x

5 Circe the Sorceress and empathy machines x

6 Journey to Hades and seeing dead people x

7 Sirens and dodgy content x

8 Scylla and Charybdis and the two extreme dangers of VR x

9 Shipwrecked with Calypso and escapism x

10 Phaeacians

Return Transformed

11 Reunited with Telemachus – mucking about as a fish

12 Archery competition and being reunited with Penelope x  

13 Odysseus reclaiming his household – and going back into the classroom x

14 Trojan Horse – where we get meta

If you want to hear more about the Odyssey or VR the different stages are below: