I’m hanging outside of a plane in a virtual world set some 2.5 miles above the Palm in Dubai. With a thumbs up from another skydiver, I follow a group of jumpers and a wingsuiter as they leap into the air.
Back in Westchester, N.Y. with a virtual reality full-face helmet strapped to my head, my physical body follows my virtual one into the wind and a tremendous whoosh lifts me into the air. In the real world, I am no more than five feet off the net of a wind tunnel, held securely in place by a flight instructor.