âHoly mackerel, this is unbelievable!â

Folks, the future of technology is here. Ninety-year-old Rachel Mahassel can attest to that.
The viral YouTube video uploaded on April 14 by her grandson, Paul Rivot, has already amassed over 600,000 views. Reddit even hosted an AMAâa Q&A with readersâwith the grandmother yesterday evening, as fans poured their love and support for this positive and delightful woman.
In the clip, the unsuspecting Mahassel puts on the Oculus Rift virtual-reality headset and takes a tour of Tuscany, part of the demo, giving adorable exultations of âheavens,â âI donât believe Iâm seeing this,â and âoh man!â
âWhen I put those on, believe me, I can honestly tell you I was in another world as quick as a snap of a finger,â Mahassel told The Daily Beast. âWhat an incredible way to see the world.â
The Oculus Rift headset, developed by Oculus VRâwhich wowed the technology world at CES earlier this year and was successfully backed on Kickstarter with over $2.4 millionâis an immersive 3D virtual-reality headset for videogames and video. Rivot, the creative director and founder of marketing company Imagimind Studios, and his colleague, software engineer Gregory Heimbuecher, were working on creating a simple program using the Ocular Rift headset. Rivotâs grandmother was coincidentally with them and they decided to let her take a test spin on the demo. âWe said, âyou know, she has to try this outâsheâs been alive for so long, went through everything from not having a television and all the way up to this,ââ Heimbuecher said. ââThis is just going to blow her mindââŚand it did.â
One reader at the Reddit AMA wrote, âYour video was the most moving thing I've seen in a long time on the Internet. With your energy and enthusiasm I have no doubt you'll still be with us at 110 and the world will be a better place for still having your wisdom among us.â Heimbuecher, who relayed the questions and comments to Mahassel, typed her response, âHOLY HANNAH! WOW!â
Rivot, who describes Mahassel as âthe most loving person youâll ever meet in your life,â said that his grandmother has been staying up late with excitement ever since they uploaded the video, even as late at 11:30 p.m., and calling friends to tell them about her new internet fame. A lover of family, and someone who enjoyed golfing, tennis, and horse-riding in her younger years, Mahassel hopes to live to 100 at least.
âIf you want to be sad thatâs your business, but if you want to be happy, go for it,â Mahassel said. âGo for it!â