More than 15 years ago I worked with a group of computer scientists and psychologists on perception research in virtual reality. Thus a friend made his dissertation, and I was distributing philosophical backrounds.
Since that time I have often thought on possible impacts of "getting sucked in" in the virtual room called augmented reality. I remember devices at this time being used to perform virtual sex, and remember, this is 15 years ago!
We had lots of discussion on abilities coming forward in creating human interfaces - electrical bio tools connected with human neuro systems. That could possibly create all possible sensual influences and even imaginations appearing very real.
The sex thing was one case. Another could be for instance "history being experienced in a new way". Imagine enhanced human interfaces create a vivid neuro influence including sensual perceptions.
You are invited to go on trip to, let`s say, Jesus` crucifixion. You go into that neuro room. You see and smell and sweat. You can speak to created figures including Jesus. You even can have a piss or feel hungry or sleepy.
Companies emerge advertizing those trips into augmented reality. The fields are manyfold, and people will have more and more difficulties separating augmented and "real" reality. Differences obliberate. Humans experience the Genie off the bottle.
With that I understand a long trail of thoughts finding it`s climax in Platon´s insights of real world (ideas) and shadow reality (our world as we see it). Platon`s system is an attempt to free people from shadow clinging. There is something beyond this shadow world, said Platon, something real, good, truthful, beautiful, which is the real reality.
You can imagine Platon`s influence in western thinking. Whitehead, a deep thinker 100 years ago, called all western philosophy "a footnote to Platon".
The Genie is off the bottle - that, which Platon thought, is now more and more understand as living experience by going into augmented reality, which is a virtual reality. And people love it. They love it so much, that even today while not having too much enhancement, people get pale faces while sitting on their computer. Scientists discovered a growing amount of kids having stunted motorical skills. We do not speak of underdeveloped skills in normal life communications - speaking, touching, hugging and so forth.
It should also be mentioned, that augmented reality is used by the military to develop strategies in wars and battles. The results are shocking - contemporary wars are performed via augmented reality. The fighter is not in close combat anymore, but in a virtual room. The fight is in Iraq, but the fighter is sitting in Germany. War has become a case of augmented reality.
With devastating results. The fighter has no reason anymore to feel bad, for he is part of virtuality. Thus he is understanding the real killing as virtual game. Genie off the bottle is in reality a demon of deception.
I´ll stop here and ask for gentle consideration. The field is actually wide and deep. It needs more and comprehensive research.
But what we can see is something tremendous happening. Platon´s shadow mind has developed toys to think it has come to absolute fulfillment ignoring the danger of seeing, that it is only an enlargement of the shadow world Platon was speaking of.
And this world is deceiving from the bottom of it`s essence, as Platon didn`t forget to mention...
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Replies
Experiment a little with your brain before a zombie eats it.
any new solutions?. . .
Take it not that seriously...
It´s only a game, a possibility, an unfolding with no real meaning...
The desillusion starts while understanding what is going on...
And it is always good meeting flesh and blood, smelling skin, touching faces, listening real voices; it is always healthy looking into eyes, feeling love and pain, having tears, seeing wrinkles and shrinking bodies, going to homes and hospitals and graveyards.
The other thing is just for playing without any deep seriousness...
Augmented (virtual) Reality is a Tool and it should be respected as such. If you drop a hammer on your foot and get a broken toe, that is the consequence of having disrespected the hammer.
Personally I have played violent video games for years, and watched gory action and horror movies. And I do agree that it sure does desensitize you to those harsh realities. It doesn't make you more prone to violence, but if you were to become violent it makes pulling the trigger alot easier.
And with an itchy trigger finger... more likely to pop off Several shots at a person without even thinking rather than just one. If you had a gun for personal defense you would kill someone rather than stop them. Especially with a "shoot for the head" reflex too - without even thinking you'd whip out the gun and blow their head off in one smooth action.
I noticed this when I went shooting at the gun range with father. We were using a .22 rifle so it doesn't have much kick. I wouldn't feel satisfied unless I fired at least 3 shots as fast as I could... and I was extremely accurate even though this was target practice for accuracy.
That's because im used to shooting digital characters that take a bunch of hits to neutralize.
To me these kinds of skills are something more like Swimming or Riding a Bicycle. They are not the kind of thing that gets rusty - its been years since I actually fired a gun but believe me if I picked one up I would be just as accurate as I was back then.
..i would say Bring it ON... Augmented Reality FTW!!!!
of course this, like anything else, can be used with ill intent in the system we are currently living... and that sucks big time...
but its not technology to be blamed for that... we all know who is to blame.. ;)