The beauty of technology is that when it’s applied correctly, the potential for change feels almost limitless. Meta Quest 2, the leading virtual reality (VR) headset on the market, served as a meeting space for Dylan Pierpont and his brothers to bond with their dad over games of Walkabout Mini-Golf before his passing.
With Father’s Day weekend upon us, many sons and daughters around the world are thinking of Dad in all sorts of ways. For those still with us or those who went on to glory, a father’s guidance, strength, and love are things to admire. Dylan Pierpont shared a touching recollection of memories from playing Walkabout Mini-Golf with his father, the late Kurt Pierpont, and made us want to shore up those bonds with our Dads too.
We opened up the chat to learn more about Kurt and what kind of impact he had on Dylan’s life as a father.
“Dad was a multitalented individual. Golf was just one aspect of his life but he was also an avid drummer and into woodworking, and he loved to get his hands dirty. He was a federal parole officer for over 20 years. He was multifaceted,” Dylan Pierpont shared.
We then asked how Pierpont’s dad discovered golf before sharing the nuances of his hobby later with his children.
“My dad grew up in Longmont, Colo., near the Sunset Golf Course, “Pierpont began. “It was a big part of my life and my grandfather’s life. It was something he wanted to pass off to his sons, me being the eldest, my middle brother Austin, and my youngest brother, Evan.”
Pierpont humbly confessed that of the brothers to take up the golf hobby, middle brother Austin has taken it further than the other two. That said, the Pierpont brothers, along with their dad, discovered a love for a game that is both a collaborative effort and a singular journey. More than anything, it was a string that connected them throughout their lives.
During the age of COVID-19, Americans were rendered to remain indoors and only venture out in cases of extreme emergency. The pandemic transformed our world, in some ways better than it was, if only briefly. Pierpont expressed how the Meta Quest 2’s VR capabilities helped bring the Pierponts together during the public health crisis.
“While golf can be and sometimes is a personal, singular moment for a player, my brothers and my dad and I used our time on Walkabout Mini-Golf to connect and socialize,” Pierpont said. “So for that year or so that we played it become less about the golf and more about spending items with the ones you love.”
The conversation moved to us inquiring how the brothers managed to get their dad to embrace the Meta Quest 2 headset and swing virtual clubs in the living room while playing Walkabout Mini-Golf. Pierpont shared that his father was not exactly tech-savvy at first.
“We’ve tried getting our parents into gaming for a while and it was just a matter of finding a game that would work and golf was the hook,” Pierpont said.
He continued, “It was something he knew and was already good at it. But it wasn’t easy at first but Dad, with the help of Evan, started to understand how similar the VR version was to the real thing but it was also how he got to spend time with us.”
Kurt’s embrace of Meta Quest 2 and Walkabout Mini-Golf progressed into a lifestyle for the eldest Pierpont. This also cements the grand potential of VR headsets like Meta Quest 2 where future virtual gatherings will be as close to the real thing as we can get. The technology is right there and stories like the Pierponts make the best case for others to discover the vast joys of VR.
Pierpont is a Seattle-based concept artist and illustrator, which Pierpont explained he inherited from his father, most especially the artistic side. Pierpont chuckled when he said that he also has a lot of his father’s stubbornness, especially during a game of golf.
While Pierpont does dabble in other games, Walkabout Mini-Golf, especially the Shangri-La realm that his Dad also enjoyed, remains the one game he’s stuck with over time.
“I like a lot of the other DLCs but the one I always go back to is Shangri-La because that’s the one Dad beat us at,” Pierpont fondly remembers. “That one definitely has some strong sentimental memory for me.”
Right on to that.
Learn more about Dylan Pierpont, Kurt Pierpont, and more by clicking here. And if your dad is around and you can’t see him, give him a nudge. We’ll be doing the same.
Happy Father’s Day.
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Photo: Dylan Pierpont/Meta Quest/Walkabout Mini-Golf
