The Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition. Now with Google-style VR goggles
Technically Incorrect: You've always dreamed of perusing the swimsuit edition in an alternative reality, haven't you? Now you can.
Technically Incorrect offers a slightly twisted take on the tech that's taken over our lives.
And you get Ronda Rousey too.
Female nudity's having a bit of an identity crisis.
Playboy has decided it doesn't need it anymore (and advertisers approve).
Meanwhile, Sports Illustrated has taken years and years trying to edge ever closer to at least one Playboyesque issue a year -- its swimsuit edition.
This ever-popular, ever-chaste oeuvre takes famous models and sportswomen to exotic locations and presents them with very little on. Or very little Vonn.
This year, skier Lindsey Vonn is merely adorned by body paint as she does pull-ups.
There is, though, a technological bonus for our progressive times. I cede to the magazine's breathless words: "The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit franchise honors tradition of innovation by introducing a series of first-of-their-kind virtual reality experiences."
This is immersion without perversion. This is the ability to ogle with goggles. Specifically, Google Cardboard-style VR goggles created by Quad/Graphics.
This week's launch includes a special edition that includes a pair of these cost-effective eyepieces for a mere $9.99, according to Variety. (The regular un-goggled edition costs $7.99).
The VR element was created in collaboration with Wevr, a company that claims it "makes brave VR." Perhaps bravery these days involves keeping your clothes on to tease, rather than slowly taking them off.
You will be relieved that Wevr's technology is both Apple iOS and Google Android compatible. It works on PCs too. You don't need to use the goggles supplied. It works with all VR headsets.
Wevr promises on its blog that "the medium's inherent intimacy is maximized at every turn."
I merely hope that you don't suffer a turn for the worse, as some virtual-reality experiences can cause light-headedness and even nausea.
I ought to add that if you're in New York or Miami, SI will have so-called viewing stations to help you experience the full effect.
"We will have sand so they can feel like they are standing there on the beach," Chris Hercik, SI Group's creative director, told Variety.
And one day, you'll be able to touch. Virtually touch, of course.
Correction, February 18 at 11:39 a.m.: An earlier version of this story misstated the type of VR glasses that come with the special edition. They are Google Cardboard-style VR goggles created by Quad/Graphics.