https://padlet.com/pind92/MagicalExperiences Hi there! I would like some help for my thesis. Write a description of an interaction with a device or piece of digital technology that you found magical in some way — it can be anything from a toaster or a doorbell to a voice assistant (like Siri or Alexa) or a self-service machine in the supermarket. The more details, like your thoughts or feelings, the better. Please add your age in the end of the post. Thank you! 💖 en-us 2019-03-21 10:46:31 UTC 2025-10-07 22:12:38 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet.com/pind92/MagicalExperiences/wish/344130197 I had a magical experience the first (and so far only) time I tried a VR headset. I didn't know what to expect. The headset itself was rather uncomfortable since it covered my eyes and ears
, but the video started out with just the Earth in front of me and empty space all around. As I looked down and only saw distant stars as tiny white dots it felt like I was falling. I got that feeling in the stomach of falling, like when you're on a roller coaster and it drops. I experienced that despite being seated in a chair! It wasn't as extreme as when on a roller coaster, but I still felt it quite clearly.
I expected to get a little motion sick, but not feeling like I was falling. After looking down and feeling that, I kept my eyes on the Earth until the video moved on to talked about a big forest, which was a bit easier to handle.

- Age: 25]]> 2019-03-22 10:05:28 UTC https://padlet.com/pind92/MagicalExperiences/wish/344130197 https://padlet.com/pind92/MagicalExperiences/wish/344355732 One time my cousin and I were driving in Brooklyn (back in 2004 or 2005) and we started to pray to Jesus that we would make it to our destination (jokingly, because we are both atheists, but her car was very unreliable) and the MP3 player on shuffle randomly started playing “The King of carrot Flowets, Pts. 2-3” by Neutral Milk Hotel. Opening lyrics blasting through the speakers: “I love you Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ I love you, yes I do”. We made it to our destination.]]> 2019-03-22 18:41:39 UTC https://padlet.com/pind92/MagicalExperiences/wish/344355732 https://padlet.com/pind92/MagicalExperiences/wish/344398418 My grandfather was an inventor and held hundreds of military patents. He never graduated high school but developed guidance systems for rockets... When I was younger he’d make things for me as birthday gifts. When I was about 6 years old (1988) my parents brought me over so he could give me my gift. He pulled out a remote control from a large cardboard box and extended the antenna. In from the other room a remote controlled tank the size of an RC car comes rumbling in. He had built it just for me. The tank smoked and fired rubber pellets. He told me to look down the barrel of the turret on top of the tank and then proceeded to turn on his large ancient TV. It was one of those large wooden paneled TVs that sat on the floor. The tank wasn’t connected to any wires, yet on the TV was live wireless video of me looking down at the tank. My mind was completely blown. It felt unreal. I didn’t believe what I was seeing. This was the late 80’s, so even a remote controlled car seemed high tech. I assumed everyone had this technology growing up. He gave me a large receiver that would connect to my TV at home. For years I made new friends because they wanted to come over to play with my tank. Years later after I grew up he explained how it worked and that if the government knew he’d made that for me he could’ve gotten in trouble. It apparently used technology was classified. Here is me on the day I got the tank. ]]> 2019-03-22 22:32:36 UTC https://padlet.com/pind92/MagicalExperiences/wish/344398418 https://padlet.com/pind92/MagicalExperiences/wish/344481648 Well, I am a huge Apple fan and I find (almost) every Apple product magical. It’s like a technological friend who is there for you 24/7. The first Apple product where I experienced a slight magical feeling, must be my Apple TV. Beatiful design both software and hardware, fast, user friendly and was capable of screen-sharing my iPhone - so I could show my pictures on a 50 inch Ultra HD TV.. Furthermore is the MOST magical experiences with my iPhone X. Fantastic quality all around and has the magical power of face scanning. It’s a very secure and amazing feeling that it only opens when my face is scanned. We’ve come so far in development and the iPhone X stands perfectly on the top. Apple delivers magic and is worth every penny everytime. ]]> 2019-03-23 18:26:07 UTC https://padlet.com/pind92/MagicalExperiences/wish/344481648 https://padlet.com/pind92/MagicalExperiences/wish/344615324 Kindles and e-readers are commonplace nowadays but I remember seeing one the first time and I was like, huh, it *does* look like paper. I had to see it to believe it.

Age: 30]]> 2019-03-24 21:23:16 UTC https://padlet.com/pind92/MagicalExperiences/wish/344615324 https://padlet.com/pind92/MagicalExperiences/wish/344617152 I remember first seeing the demo of Adobe Photoshop's Content-Aware Fill -- this is the now-common feature that lets you, under the right circumstances, seamlessly remove or move objects -- and it was absolute fucking magic. It still is, when it works.

Age: 30]]> 2019-03-24 21:36:53 UTC https://padlet.com/pind92/MagicalExperiences/wish/344617152 https://padlet.com/pind92/MagicalExperiences/wish/344650289 If you are listening to something in a Tesla and you open the door. The music doesn’t stop playing but it does drop the volume automatically so as to not blare out around the vicinity of where you are parked. Close the door the volume resumes. 

It didn’t notice this the first few times and then one day I did. Afterwards I thought, of course that is the obvious thing to do but somebody had to think of it. I haven’t been in any other car that does this. 

It’s the little things, the attention to detail. The sign that the designers of the product use it themselves and fix the annoying things, even if marketing can’t sell them and product managers won’t authorize them. They are the causes of delight for me. 

56 but never got past being 25. ]]> 2019-03-25 01:47:41 UTC https://padlet.com/pind92/MagicalExperiences/wish/344650289 https://padlet.com/pind92/MagicalExperiences/wish/345861095 The first time I got a gaming PC and could play PC-games was a magical experience for me. It was so immersive, I felt like an entire new universe with hundreds of different stories, worlds and friends were hidden right behind the screen, waiting for me to throw myself into the experience. That first time I opened up a game and saw the prologue to an epic story, with the sound of music and voices from the characters booming in my ears....Wow. For several moments I forgot everything about the real world and was just a part of this exciting virtual reality where magic was real and I was the hero - that was magical.    Age:26             Gender: Female]]> 2019-03-27 18:54:09 UTC https://padlet.com/pind92/MagicalExperiences/wish/345861095 https://padlet.com/pind92/MagicalExperiences/wish/345884316 The first time I was able to use a Wacom drawing tablet, my whole world was just expanded with happiness.  I was probably 11 or 12 and an artist (drew on everything, all the time) and I was giddy with how cool it was that I could now draw digitally and use digital art tools.  I still think it's amazing what people can do with art programs, and the tablet was one of the best gifts I've ever gotten.  It felt like I had gained another limb or way to interact with the world, especially with artists online who were pioneering and continuing to pioneer new digital techniques.

Current age: 26]]> 2019-03-27 19:56:50 UTC https://padlet.com/pind92/MagicalExperiences/wish/345884316 https://padlet.com/pind92/MagicalExperiences/wish/347065530 First time I used a Wii (I might have been around 12-15 years) I thought it was very cool that I without a wire could play games in front of a screen, and that it could detect where I was. 
Age: 24]]> 2019-04-01 08:43:06 UTC https://padlet.com/pind92/MagicalExperiences/wish/347065530 https://padlet.com/pind92/MagicalExperiences/wish/348389989 For me, the is almost always something magical or rather whimsical about new things. Opening the box for the first time, seeing everything neatly packed inside, be it a headset, coffee machine or game console. Some object also comes with a distinct smell when new (headsets, books, anything with foil on that can be peeled of). Giving the object an unfamiliar smell which keeps impressing on one until you get used to it or it fades with use. The first times using these objects feel magical, it's something new and exciting. Notable examples:

Using my first 'real' coffee maker. Shortly after receiving it as a gift, I began using a Mocca Master to brew coffee. Every new interaction with it was special. Taking the glass pitcher and filling it with water, pouring the water into the machine and measure the amount. Inserting a filter in the cone and especially opening a box of grounded coffee beans and scooping it up with a small spoon, into the cone. Turning the machine on and immediately hear it beginning to boil water and seeing the drops of coffee slowly starting to fill the pitcher. The whole interaction was a whimsical experience and still is, at least for a while.

I think the magical or whimsical experience comes from having something new arrive to interact and influence me. An object or technology I am not used to and is free to explore the new impressions I am receiving from it.]]> 2019-04-04 07:07:07 UTC https://padlet.com/pind92/MagicalExperiences/wish/348389989 ivi_beatrix https://padlet.com/pind92/MagicalExperiences/wish/351073362 After not being in my home country for a while, the first time when I got to try out the newly released ticket-vending machine(for public transportation) using touch-screen entirely changed my perception of using the whole public transportation system!
I just got to the machine, tapped the screen a couple of times and in no time I found myself holding the right ticket, exactly what I wanted without any hassle, unnecessary confirmation questions, overwhelmingly many options etcetc.... and my mind was completely blown how easy, quick and smooth it can be to buy a ticket. Honestly, ever since I have been banging on this experience to everyone I could. Interacting with a machine made for serving the public can be magically easy. :)


Age: 30]]> 2019-04-12 08:19:24 UTC https://padlet.com/pind92/MagicalExperiences/wish/351073362 https://padlet.com/pind92/MagicalExperiences/wish/351267274 A couple of years ago I was in Epcot (Disney World) in Orlando. I was there with some family, including my young nephews who were about 6 & 2 years old. We went into one of the attractions where you meet one of the "groovy" turtles from Finding Nemo.
It's on a giant screen and it talks to people as the crowd is moving into the room, saying generic stuff and talking about turtle facts.

As time goes by, it starts getting more and more specific. It's almost like it's looking directly AT some people. And it starts going into specifics, like "You in the green jacket...". I couldn't see if there actually was a guy in a green jacket, so I thought it was simply a cleverly designed video.

After a couple of minutes more, the turtle says "Now, does anybody have a question?". And somehow, someway it's actually a rendered turtle, controlled by an operator SOMEHOW.
I don't know how, but the way it moved its lips was perfectly accurate with what it was saying. The turtle could also swim around and up and down and do flips, and even swim out of frame. It could even do grimaces. One kid asked "Do turtles need to breathe above water?", and the turtle answered "Yes". After a few seconds of looking stoned, it suddenly grimaced surprise and immediately swam up out of frame to draw breath.
It could also look directly at people in the room, keeping eye contact as it swam around.

To this day, I have no idea how 1 man could control so many things at the same time. The guy was extremely funny too, so he might not even have been tech-savvy. But everything was in perfect synchronicity all the time.
The kids in the room and my nephews thought nothing of it, but I was completely dumbfounded.]]> 2019-04-12 18:08:36 UTC https://padlet.com/pind92/MagicalExperiences/wish/351267274 https://padlet.com/pind92/MagicalExperiences/wish/362795606 2019-05-23 04:56:21 UTC https://padlet.com/pind92/MagicalExperiences/wish/362795606