American politician Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the House and presidential hopeful in 2012, is a big fan of virtual reality. He recently visited Facebook's headquarters and got to try the device. Then he blogged about his experience on his website, writing that virtual reality could be the elusive next big thing.

　　"Every so often a technology comes along that makes you realize as soon as you try it that it will change the world," Gingrich wrote. "Email and the web browser were two good examples. Cell phones were another. Last week at Facebook I had the thrill of experiencing one more: virtual reality."

　　"That may sound ridiculous, but within a minute of putting on the Oculus Rift, you know that millions of people are going to spend hours with these devices strapped to their faces. It's that amazing."

　　Gingrich writes that he tried multiple Oculus Rift demos, including one where he walked amidst dinosaurs and another where he virtually stood on the edge of a skyscraper and felt as if he was actually there.

　　"With your toes at the edge of the mat you're actually standing on in real life, your eyes really do fool you," he said.

　　The politician, like others before him, also says he thinks virtual reality will impact more industries than just gaming. He said he sees virtual reality becoming a new teaching tool.

　　"Imagine crossing the Delaware with George Washington on Christmas night of 1776," he says. "Imagine watching the debates of the Constitutional Convention as no one but the Founding Fathers did. Imagine being a member of the audience at Ford's theater the night Abraham Lincoln was shot. This will revolutionize what we think of as television programming for everything from news to sports to drama."

　　Overall, Gingrich says virtual reality is "worth being excited about," even if it's still early days.

　　Oculus VR, maker of the Oculus Rift headset, announced on Wednesday that the Oculus Rift consumer model will go on sale in the first quarter of 2016. Pricing, however, has not been announced. It won't be the only new virtual reality headset debuting next year, as Sony plans to ship its PlayStation 4 device Project Morpheus in the first half of 2016.

　　This isn't Gingrich's first look at virtual reality. He also tried Google's cardboard virtual reality app back in April.

　　Spent the afternoon at #Versailles thanks to @googlecardboard. #cardboard @google https://t.co/fq60HSTz4j pic.twitter.com/9WWoVBmTf3

　　— Newt Gingrich (@newtgingrich) April 15, 2015

　　Via: Mashable