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View Full Version : Next gen virtual reality


GrimNightfall
06-26-2013, 12:14 AM
Just thought I would make a thread about the upcoming virtual reality products as they seem very interesting to me :P

Omni Treadmill (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1944625487/omni-move-naturally-in-your-favorite-game/)
Oculus Rift (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1523379957/oculus-rift-step-into-the-game)

Do you guys feel that these products are worth buying (assuming they will be quite expensive), or do you think they are both stupid ideas? Feel free to share your thoughts.
I know i want to buy both, it beats sitting in a computer chair! .....Though I must admit, they look silly.

Masterkick
06-26-2013, 02:47 AM
All of these kind of virtual reality products (headsets, "google glasses" -this is augmented reality but still makes for the point-) remind me too much of dystopian conceptions of the future like the Matrix or 1984. Why? Because they are somehow alienating (from the real world) and involve fooling our own brains in order to create a non-existent setting.

In my opinion, we are still nowhere near the creation of worlds that are both virtual and real, like the holodeck. And yes, I'd love to have my own holodeck. But holodecks actually conceive a parallel reality, they're not somehow making us believe that reality exists, it truly exists.

At the ending of this tunnel there's always the same questions and uncertainties; what is real and what isn't? How do we know if what we see is what is actually out there? Some philosophers say that our reality is the product of an intimate relation between our senses and the real world. Then, if we can create an artificial environment that feels real yet isn't, the obvious Matrix question arises again; is this real life, or is this just fantasy?

That is why I don't like tampering with our senses and perceptions. Gotta go now, Captain Picard is waiting for me in holodeck 2. Riding lessons he said.

Neal Cassady out.