Editor, Times-Union: Ever since I was a kid living in North Manchester I have enjoyed going to museums and studying history. When I was living in New York State I enjoyed vacationing in Williamsburg, Va., and getting into the 18th century mindset of Colonial Williamsburg. Indiana has wonderful museums and places where history comes to life. Years ago I visited the reconstructed fort in Fort Wayne. You left the modern world outside the gates and had to adopt the mindset of the early 19th century of the re-enactors. I also love cars like those in the Auburn, Cord, Duesenberg Museum and enjoyed seeing the race cars in the Indianapolis Speedway Museum. In the future, once Experiencable Program Units are perfected that will allow people to experience computer programs as if they are reality, museums and other places where history come to life will come more to life. Imagine going to the Indianapolis Speedway Museum, entering an EPU chamber, and suddenly experiencing being in the cockpit of an Indy car on the front row between AJ Foyt and Al Unser. You would first be trained how to drive a race car before experiencing a race. If you drive well you might finish in the top ten. If you crash, you will stop experiencing the race. At least you’ll only experience physical pain in the program. EPUs will allow people to experience Indiana history from before it was a state up to the recent past. People will also be able to experience the possible future of Indiana. You might be someone who wants to live on a homestead in 1820 and defend your farm from bears and Indians. Or you might want to drive a flying car and both live and work in a stratotower in Indianapolis in 2120. When you turn on the electronic window from your apartment three miles up and look toward Chicago you might see the Frank Lloyd Wright Stratotower which would be taller than Mount Everest. Many people would like to live in the past. Maybe having to trudge through a couple feet of snow to get to the outhouse would change their mind. With Experiencable Program Units, people will be able to experience the next best thing to being there. Rick Badman Warsaw
