After scouring the web for useful information about Charles, all I found was a sparse twitter account, a non-descript bio/resume (he is a 20-handicap golfer), and a handful of links to websites. I was left wondering who is Charles Kaioun, this virtual enigma – someone who I interact with on nearly a daily basis at MIT, but who I also hardly know.

I decided to record the interview in 360 degree sound, testing a cheap pair of binaural audio recording headphones I picked up over winter break, trying to see if it might be possible to capture the sense of a first encounter with Charles.

Our conversation in a half occupied lounge of MIT’s Sloan School of Management floated from a family history of war and genocide to Y2K and virtual reality.

We began the conversation with a discussion of Charles’ heritage, which like mine is one of mixed origins with buried histories. Play Here: Charles 1 (02:00)

At the start Charles’ story evokes my own challenge to capture my family history, which I share with Charles and sparks a further discussion. Play Here: Charles 2 (01:47)

At this point, our conversation begins to drift from a discussion of our grandparents generation and its enigmatic qualities to present day virtuality. Charles 3 (0:58)

Charles begins to discuss how he might blend past and present with a virtual walk trough of his family history. Charles 4 (01:33)

Charles’ interest in virtual reality is inescapable. I have to ask where this passion originated. Surprisingly it leads back to Y2K. Charles is captivated by the magical properties of computing technology. Charles 5 (03:00)

We end back where we started with a look back at our grandparents stories, wondering what we might look like 80 years from now to future generations. Charles Close (0:57)

I am left thinking of the stories of Charles’ grandparents – his sister’s effort to document their lives and Charles’ passion for virtual reality – wondering whether the future of news might in fact have something to do with re-capturing the past.