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Escapism and Virtual Reality 'Virtual Reality, a new method of interacting with any computer, is presented and its advantages and disadvantages are considered. The human aspect of computing and computers as a form of escapism are developed, with especial reference to possible full technological developments. The consequences of a weakening of the sense of reality based upon the physical world are also considered. Virtual Reality, or VR, is a concept that was first formally proposed in the early Seventies by Ted Nelson Computer Dreams. The basic idea is that human beings should design machines that can be operated in a manner that is as natural as possible, for th human beings, not the computers.
For instance, the standard QWERTY keyboard is a moderately good instrument for entering exactly the letters which have been chosen to make up a word and hence to construct sentences. Human communication, however, is often most fluent in speech, and so a computer that could understand spoken words (preferably of all languages) and splay them in a standard format such as printed characters, would be far easier to use, especially since the skills of speech exist from an early age, but typing has to be learnt, often painfully. All other human senses have similar analogies when considering their use with tools. Pictures are easier than words for us to digest quickly. A full range of sounds provides more useful information than beeps and bells do.
It is easier to point at an it that we can see than to specify it by name. All of these ideas had to wait until the technology had advanced sufficiently to permit their implementation in an efficient manner, that is, both fast enough not to irritate the user and cheap enough for mas production. One long-standing area of interest in VR has been the simulation of military conflicts in the most realistic form possible. The flight simulator trainers of the 1970 s had basic visual displays and large hydraulic rams to actually move the trainee pilot s the real aeroplane would have moved. This has been largely replaced in more modern simulators by a massive increase in the amount of information displayed on the screen, leading to the mind convincing itself that the physical movements are occurring, th reduced emphasis on attempts to provide the actual movements. Such an approach is both cheaper in equipment and more flexible in configuration, since changing the the aeroplane from a fighter to a commercial airliner need only involve changing the si later program, not the hydraulics.
Escapism can be rather loosely defined as the desire to be in a more pleasant mental and physical state than the present one. One line of thought would suggest that all conscious thought is a form of escapism and that in fact any activity that involves ncentration on sensations from the external world is a denial of our ability to escape completely. However, this hypothesis fails to include the pleasurable parts of escapist thinking, which may either be recalling past experiences or, more importantly for this study, the sense of security and safety that can exist within situations that exist only i our minds. As implied above, the uses of Virtual Reality can be understood in two ways.
Firstly, VR can be viewed as a more effective way of communicating concepts, abstract or concrete, to other people. For example, as a teaching tool, a VR interface to a database of operation techniques would permit a surgeon to try out different approaches on the same simulated patient or to teach a junior basic techniques. An architect might use a VR interface to allow clients to walk around a building that exists only in the sign stage. Secondly, VR can be used as a visualisation tool for each individual. Our own preferences could be added to a VR system to such an extent that anyone else using it would be baffled by the range of personalised symbols and concepts. An analogy to this wo d be redefining all the keys on a typewriter for each typist.
This would be a direct extension of our ability to conceive objects. Extending the examples, a worrying prediction is that the extensive use of VR to support our own internal visualisation's of concepts would reduce our ability to perform abstract and escapist thoughts without the machines presence. This would be evident n a massive upsurge in computer-related entertainment, both in games and interactive entertainment and would be accompanied by a reduction of the appreciation and study of written literature, since the effort required to imagine the contents would be more than was considered now reasonable. Another danger of VR is its potential medical applications. If a convincing set of images and sound can be collected, it might become possible to treat victims of trauma or brain-injured people by providing a 'safe VR environment for them to recover in There are several difficult ethical decisions associated with this sort of work. Firstly, the decision to disconnect a chronically disturbed patient from VR would become analogous to removing pain-killers from a patient in chronic pain.
Another problem that since much of what we perceive as ourselves is due to the way that we react to stimuli, whatever the VR creator defines as the available stimuli become the limiting extent of our reactions. Our individuality would be reduced and our innate human f xi bility with it. Following on from these thoughts, one can imagine many other abuses of VR. 'Mental anaesthesia or 'permanent calming could be used to control long-term inmates of mental institutions. A horrendous form of torture by deprivation of reality could be ima ned, with a victim being forced to perceive only what the torturers choose as reality. Users who experienced VR at work as a tool may chose to use it as a recreational drug, much as television is sometimes used today. Virtual Reality is yet another significant shift in the way that we can understand both what is around us and what exists only in our minds.
A considerable risk associated with VR is that our flexibility as human beings means that we may adapt our though s to our tool, instead of the other way round. Though computers and our interaction with them by VR is highly flexible, this flexibility is as nothing compared to the potential human range of actions.
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Research essay sample on Virtual Reality Human Beings
