Yesterday marked the last day of the annual Society for Neuroscience Meeting of the US.一連幾天的美國神經科學學會會議，昨天終於落幕。
This meeting is no ordinary one! It is basically an enormous gathering of more than 30000 people in the San Diego Convention Center, which was filled with people in every corner and corridor. Lunch time, as well as the start and the end of keynote lectures, would bring about massive pedestrian traffic which is reminiscent of Le Louvre in Paris. The main lecture hall was also filled to capacity with thousands of audience during the first keynote lecture of the meeting on the first day.
這個會議可有來頭，規模以「鼎盛」形容絕不為過，一共有三萬多人出席，聖迭戈會展中心到處都人頭湧湧，尤其是午飯時候或大型演講前後，整個會場都是人潮，不禁令我像起羅浮宮。會議的第一個大型演講，數千坐席，更是無一虛設！
Why do I think of Le Louvre? I described Le Louvre as a kind of a shopping plaza where there are so many things on offer and everyone can take what they need. The scale of this meeting permits breadth and depth at the same time, as the meeting has to cater for a wide spectrum of researchers but there would be enough participants within each area of interest to accommodate specialised topics. It was therefore not difficult at all to find presentations (talks or posters), and indeed it was more a problem with clashing presentation times or being overwhelmed with information! There's no doubt that I've learnt a lot more about the background of my research work after 5 days of attending so many presentations.
我當時形容羅浮宮像商場，場內的人都可各取所需，看自己有興趣的事物，這個會議亦然，規模龐大的好處，就是能容納既廣泛又專門的課題，接及眾多範疇之餘，又可每個範疇都深入探討，所以不難找到對自己特別有興趣或有關的演講和海報，甚至有時會出現撞期，或覺得花多眼亂。跑了五天的演講後，令我對手頭上的研究課題的背境有更深刻了解。
But there's one big drawback to a big conference. I was constantly confronted with a sea of unfamiliar faces, and I found it nearly impossible to have a chat with other attendants since I don't know too many people from my field. If it was not for keeping in constant contact with another person from my lab with SMS messages during the meeting, or running by chance into a Hong Kong student I met in Göttingen back in June, I would have been left completely drifting alone from place to place. Even when I had a chance to talk to other people, it was often brief and I would not see them for a second time during the conference. A conference like this is simply not the best opportunity to meet new people.
但巨型會議有一大缺點，就是人太多，加上我認識的同行少之又少，所以極難得找到其他人傾談及交流心得，若非靠手機短訊與自己實驗室另一個在會議的人保持聯絡，和碰到六月在歌廷根開會時認識的香港學生，真會覺得「西出陽關無故人」，孤獨非常，就算有機會交流，也祇是那一剎那，再也無緣碰面，想籍會議擴大自己的圈子，實在不用奢望了。
The view of the San Diego Convention Center (left) and the nearby hotels (right) from San Diego Bay
從聖迭戈灣回望聖迭戈會展中心及鄰近的酒店
There were many new technologies on display during the Meeting, and the one that interested me the most was an exhibition on virtual reality. A member of the exhibition staff put a special headset on my head, and from that moment, I felt like stepping into the new world defined by the scenario I saw in the headset. The person told me to walk through a deep hole in the ground on a narrow plank of wood. When I was asked to turn around and walk back, he told me to look down the hole and gave me a little push. I had to regain my balance as I tried to stop myself from 'falling' into the hole! I also tried another set-up which simulates a lift. After stepping onto a stand with another headset, I could feel myself travelling up and down in a transparent lift. And as I turned my head around, I could see the views through the lift just like normal. Suffice to say, I was very impressed with how realistic the simulations were. I only wished one day that virtual reality could be applied to the visualisation of molecular structures like proteins. Then researchers would be able to 'walk' into the heart of the molecules, marvel at the beauty and be awed by the intricacy of molecular connections.
在會議也看到各式各樣的新科技，最令我大開眼界的，就是一個跟虛擬現實（Virtual reality）有關的展覽，那家公司的職員給我戴上特殊的眼罩，眼罩的螢幕播放一段畫面，我彷彿走進了另一個世界，職員着我在一塊鋪在深坑上的窄木板上走，然後回頭再走一次，期間着我望向深坑下，問我覺不覺得深，還推了我一下，我嚇得失了一失平衡，幸好沒掉進去。我也試驗了一個模擬升降機的裝備，站在一個台上，戴上眼罩後，我就像跟隨一個透明的升降機上落，隨着頭部的轉動，還可觀看四周的風景。我不禁驚嘆，現代的模擬科技，能造出如此逼真的效果，如果他日能把分子結構（例如各蛋白質）以虛擬現實科技作投影，然後讓研究員走「進」去觀看，視覺效果會多麼震撼！
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