Chapter 1072 The First Customer
The phone call lasted for ten minutes.
When Lu Zhou heard that Chen Yushan had found the test subjects, he had a weird look on his face.
In some sense, this was a good thing.
He could finally put his technology to use.
Lu Zhou nodded without giving an opinion.
“Okay, I understand…
“Thank you.”
Then, he hung up the phone.
Professor Lumiere was watching Lu Zhou’s facial expressions during the phone call. After Lu Zhou hung up the phone, he couldn’t help but say, “What happened?”
Lu Zhou said, “It has something to do with you, but not a lot. I will explain it to you later.”
He paused for a second and continued.
“You will have to wait until tomorrow to hear about your tasks. I’ll arrange for you to stay at a nearby five-star hotel. You’ll be moved to a permanent residence place in a few days. I suggest you go over the technical route you outlined today. I’m sure you already have a blueprint in your mind, but we still have to go over the specifics.”
Professor Lumiere paused for a second before his eyes suddenly widened.
“Wait a second, so you’re saying, I have to stay in China to participate in your project? Why didn’t you tell me this? I have my own job in Switzerland, also what about the visa—”
Lu Zhou didn’t want to hear about these annoying things, so he said impatiently, “Annual salary of one million.
“That’s in euros.”
Professor Lumiere opened his mouth, then closed it again.
“… Okay, I’ll write a resignation letter to my employer.”
Lu Zhou nodded and spoke.
“Ok.”
…
After calling Chen Yushan, Lu Zhou had a rough idea of what her plans were.
There were several people in military uniforms, standing in the reception room.
Lu Zhou recognized the old man.
This person was none other than Qin Zhuangyan, the leader of the Air Force Equipment Department.
Back in the day, the Aerospace Science and Technology Institute of the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study cooperated with the Air Force Equipment Research Institute on many projects, including spacecraft power components.
Director Li from the State Administration for National Defense was also here.
Lu Zhou looked at how excited these two officials looked, and he knew that they probably already knew what was going on.
“Haha, Academician Lu, long time no see.”
Minister Qin shook Lu Zhou’s hand with a warm smile on his face.
After Lu Zhou let go of the handshake, he smiled and spoke.
“Yeah, long time no see.”
They hadn’t seen each other since their last meeting at the aerospace launch site. Minister Qin looked healthier and energetic.
After Lu Zhou made some small talk with Director Li, Minister Qin went straight to the point.
“I heard that you recently created a neural interface virtual reality technology? Can I ask, what exactly is it?”
Lu Zhou didn’t want to answer this question again, especially to a layman.
He knew that Minister Qin probably did not care about the technical details.
“It’s a bit complicated to explain, I can just show it to you.”
Minister Qin was relieved.
“Perfect!”
The group of people soon walked into a laboratory.
The two old men looked at the dentist-like chair and looked at each other with a weird look on their faces.
It was obvious what they were thinking.
Both Minister Qin and Director Li doubted if this thing was as amazing as the CEO of Star Sky Technology had claimed.
If the highly-respected Academician Lu weren’t here, they certainly wouldn’t be as calm.
“This is the… virtual reality device?” Director Li said. He looked at the poorly-made chair and frowned as he said, “Looks a bit simple?”
“Yes, it’s simple, it’s just an experimental machine.” Lu Zhou looked at the two and said, “Enough talk, who wants to go first?”
Director Li and Minister Qin looked at each other.
Finally, Director Li spoke first.
“I’ll go.”
Lu Zhou nodded and didn’t say anything. He told a staff member to help Director Li connect to the machine.
A signal light began to flash as the machine began to start up.
The group of people waited a few minutes for Director Li to use the machine.
Minister Qin began to get a little impatient. Finally, Director Li took off his helmet with a shocking look on his face.
Minister Qin looked at Director Li and said, “How was it?”
Director Li gave the helmet to Minister Qin and said, “… I can’t describe it, just try it yourself.”
“Then get up, let me try.”
Minister Qin eagerly climbed on the seat and put the helmet on his head.
Lu Zhou nodded toward the staff member, who started the machine.
After a few minutes, Minister Qin took off the helmet. He was even more shocked than Director Li, and his hands were trembling.
There was only one reason.
Everything in the virtual world seemed too real.
It wasn’t just real, it was like everything was alive.
The tumbling red clouds in the sky and the blades of blue grass swaying in the wind reminded him of his hometown during autumn…
He couldn’t even describe what he was seeing.
He finally understood why Director Li was so shocked.
“This was incredible…”
After a while, Minister Qin had a serious look on his face. He asked Lu Zhou in a sincere manner, “Is it possible to use this machine to train pilots?”
Lu Zhou knew Minister Qin would ask this. He could even guess what Chen Yushan had told him.
He thought about it and said, “I don’t really know a lot about the pilot training process, but it is theoretically possible for professionals to develop a set of training procedures to mimic an aircraft.”
When Minister Qin heard it was theoretically possible, he immediately asked, “How much is the entire machine?”
Lu Zhou smiled and shook his head.
“There’s no need to hurry, this technology is only semi-finished. I’m not done yet.”
“Only semi-finished?” Minister Qin paused for a second and said, “But I feel like—”
“You feel like it is perfect, right?” Lu Zhou continued, “It is only perfect for simple realities, but once the realities become more complex, that’s a different problem.
“Especially for something used to train pilots, not only will we have to simulate a plane cabin, but also the physical and aerodynamic environment of the entire flight process.”
“Basically, we need to first build a complete system for the virtual reality technology, then launch a set of development tools for this system.”
Minister Qin was a little confused. He pinched his eyebrows and said, “Okay, is there anything we can do to help?”
Lu Zhou nodded.
“… Whether it’s for distributed computing methods or conventional computing methods, we need a large group of volunteers.”
Minister Qin looked at Director Li, then spoke seriously to Lu Zhou.
“… Is it safe? I mean, will the experiment affect the brain?”
Lu Zhou shook his head and said, “Not at all, in fact, the microcurrents exerted on the cerebral cortex by this device is tiny compared to the information load on the brain under normal conditions. You can even treat it as a relaxation method… Of course, the brain is still working, it’s not a replacement for sleep.”
Minister Qin took a while to comprehend Lu Zhou’s words.
He frowned and asked, “So there are no side effects?”
Lu Zhou nodded.
“Yeah.”
Minister Qin immediately asked, “How many people do you need?”
Lu Zhou: “The more the better, there’s no set number.”
“The more the better.” Minister Qin frowned and contemplated for a moment. He then asked, “Is one regiment enough?”
Lu Zhou: “…?”
