9-20: Escape from Reality
In this reading, Michael Heim describes virtual reality (VR) in the strong sense and weak sense. The strong sense of virtual reality refers to the original concept behind VR while the weak sense is a faint glimmer of what VR is. An example of the weak sense of VR is an ATM where the ATM serves as a virtual bank teller. However, the ATM is weak in the three "I"s of VR.
The three "I"s refer to immersion, interactivity and information intensity. The depth and realism of a VR system determines the immersion of a person into the realm. Without the proper equipment, the user will feel disassiociated with the system. Interactivity deals with how the user is able to navigate and interact (obviously) in the VR environment. Information intensity relates to the computer's ability to handle the data being processed such that the user will not be able to notice the changes in the environment when he changes positions.
Full telepresence happens when the three "I"s create the "interactive feedback loop." A rough translation defines telepresence as "remote presence." The VR system's purpose is to immerse the user into the realm through this concept. Also, VR allows the user or users to share imagination. While reality is bound by laws, VR is only bound by code. However, Heim hints at the problems that VR may cause once the line between reality and VR gets blurred. With knowledge about these issues, we can begin to act "realistic" when dealing with VR.
The three "I"s refer to immersion, interactivity and information intensity. The depth and realism of a VR system determines the immersion of a person into the realm. Without the proper equipment, the user will feel disassiociated with the system. Interactivity deals with how the user is able to navigate and interact (obviously) in the VR environment. Information intensity relates to the computer's ability to handle the data being processed such that the user will not be able to notice the changes in the environment when he changes positions.
Full telepresence happens when the three "I"s create the "interactive feedback loop." A rough translation defines telepresence as "remote presence." The VR system's purpose is to immerse the user into the realm through this concept. Also, VR allows the user or users to share imagination. While reality is bound by laws, VR is only bound by code. However, Heim hints at the problems that VR may cause once the line between reality and VR gets blurred. With knowledge about these issues, we can begin to act "realistic" when dealing with VR.
posted by Red Head Matt at 3:51 PM
1 Comments:
Man. I set up a blog at this site in August and didn't get a single spam comment. So I figured this one was the best. Evidently that experiment was missing some crucial variables.
Your discussion of telepresence and Josh's comment on how moving VR into a sensation of touching rapidly moves us into the world of pain makes me think about how our sensations in the real world connect to the physical safety of our body. And I wonder what kinds of representational/interpretive issues this raises in terms of how our physical bodies are going to react to /interpret virtual reality. Is it going to be a waking experience (where we respond with our bodies) or a dream experience (where we respond only with our minds).
For example, what if we are in VR and we get "skunked" at close range and experience the smell at such intensity that it makes us lose our lunch? Will it REALLY make us upchuck? Or will it make us feel like/dream we vomited? Can we be awake and perceive intense sensations and NOT respond physically -- or will we have to be asleep to "feel" "smell" "touch" certain sensations without, say, going into shock or having some other physical response?
So far, it seems like simluated sensation (if it is convincing enough) evokes REAL responses in the body. For example, nausea and first person games. From what I've read, that is because those kinds of movements (rapid turning/reorienting) are not "normal" perceptions for our bodies except as an experiene of being poisoned => and so we feel nauseated and may in fact vomit (to eliminate the poison).
So -- for certain experiences -- are we going to have to be asleep -- and if we are asleep -- how are we going to "direct" our experiences?
Sorry for all the regurgitation examples.
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