May 21 2008 / by futuretalk
Category: Other Year: General Rating: 11 Hot
By Dick Pelletier
Imagine a future where there is no clear distinction between
real and simulated events. Welcome to the world of virtual reality.
In contrast to today’s crude videoconferencing methods, tomorrow’s
revolutionary “telepresence” systems expected by 2015 or before,
will look and sound like you are actually together in real reality.
You’ll establish eye contact, look around each other, and otherwise
have the sense of being together. 
Tomorrow’s Internet will power this new system. Cameras will
transmit live two-way pictures over a terabyte-speed network
similar to today’s Internet2. With
sensors embedded in clothing to track movement, parties at both
ends can project themselves into a virtual reality 3-D simulation
of the event – everyone interacts with everyone with
“telepresence.”
“This new system marks the beginning of a revolution expected to
take us by storm in the next decade,” says Dr. Pierre Boulanger,
University of Alberta VR researcher. People separated by distance
can be together in this virtual world, to enjoy a living room chat,
share meals at the dinner table, or cozy up even more intimately.
Everyone feels hand shakes, hugs and kisses as if they were
real.
In addition, say goodbye to confusing controls for home
entertainment systems and computers. Lifelike 3D avatars (virtual
assistants) which speak perfect “human” will become our primary
interface with all our technologies.
These amazing screen images will do just about everything for
us. They will answer questions; negotiate Internet transactions;
make it easy for us to operate computers and home entertainment
systems; and maintain household temperature, lighting and security.
These cute creatures, resembling favorite celebrities or loved
ones, will appear on our TV, cell phone screen, and car radio
display. Later, advances in holography will enable avatars to jump
off the screen and follow us around the house. (cont.)
By about 2018, neural implants will replace clothing sensors for
easier, even more lifelike digital get-togethers. Finally, by
mid-2020s, we will replace neural implants with nanobots which
promise the ultimate in simulation. Tiny ‘bots, programmed with
software from the Internet, will influence all our senses; sight,
sound, and touch. We could download a program like Star Trek
“Holodeck” and dive into any action our heart desires. For “real”
reality, nanobots will just stay in position and do nothing. When
we opt for a virtual experience, they will replace normal sensory
inputs with signals appropriate for the virtual environment.
Another possibility suggested by futurist Ray Kurzweil, is the
“experience beamer.” By 2030, we could beam sensory experiences on
the Internet similar to the way people expose their lives today on
Utube. We could enter directly into another person’s mind, like the
characters did in the movie Being John Malkovich. IBM’s Blue Brain project, which hopes to simulate the
entire human brain by 2015, could help make this wild scenario
become an everyday life experience.
Will this future happen? Jaron Lanier, considered the father of
virtual reality, believes it will. “About ten years ago, I
predicted that virtual reality would be accessible to consumers by
about 2010”, he said. “I still think that’s true.”
We certainly live in an exciting time. When we add household
robots expected by 2015 to this amazing picture, we see a “magical
future” unfolding beyond our wildest dreams.
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