Forum Discussion
What is the "Optimal" Virtual Reality Experience/Future
I've been dancing around this question a bit in my VR musings and at this point, I think just plain old getting a discussion on the matter would be of some value. To start, I posit the question: "How ...
Fascinating insight Astrocyte. I actually concur that such there is certainly a market for getting to see the world throuogh the lens of others. Honestly, I think that's going to lead to a revolution in the development of films in so far that it will allow people to experience exactly what the director wants them to feel. All of a sudden, a director would now have the power to craft an entire life that others can experience. Add on to that the valuable philosophical and a social questions that can be explored with the technology. The nature of qualia, the expansion of sympathy, the possibilities are endless and I certainly hope that a metaverse or cyberspace can be used to help people truly interface with each other with genuine communication of feelings rather than our current methods that can be misconstrued.
On the note of EEGs, I can agree without a doubt that their current state isn't right for virtual reality controls, but I actually think that further development, optimization, computational improvements, and data can help us craft it to be a technology that can meet the required purpose. I don't think complete mind reading would be something achievable with EEGs, but something more along the lines of reliable muscle coordination tracking could be inferred if we examine the current "noise" that's plaguing the data. I may be mistaken on the nature of some of EEGs issues, but I recall reading somewhere that EEG suffers from latency due to data processing and the noise that even slight movements of the head can create. I'd actually like to further examine this due to the possibility that this noise could be tied to motor event related potentials that could be attributed to precise actions if we use EMGs, EKGs, and EOGs to track the occurrence of particular actions. Processing wise, I suppose that Moore's law may give us hope (though admittedly that is scheduled to die off within this decade/century which could put a damper on things), but in the event that this doesn't work, I think optimizing the EEG approach would be the best route I can see now. If another, better method comes about that is easily implantable and or non invasive, by all means I'll be the first to sign up and through my wallet around for a test run (not that the wallet is that heavy...). Personally, I'm not sure I fancy the idea of direct brain implants of chips just yet. I don't want my to modify my body in any way until I'm sure that the change renders the body obsolete.
On your note of the differences between brains, this is one region where I think some kind of calibration process will be required as you're right, every brain and by extension, everyone is different. Hijacking the central neural system is probably a necessary part of developing the optimal BCI. I honestly think that the part of the body we aren't paying enough attention to is the surrounding nerves that lead into the spinal cord. Peripheral nerves are capable of regeneration and even the spinal cord itself has seen some progress in the realm of regeneration in labs. Though, direct neural interfaces do imply we want direct access to the brain so in a way, so you're probably right to note the need to tread carefully. I spent a bit of yesterday researching the anime Sword Art Online's Nerve Gear interface for a video and found that the cited method the story mentioned (microwaves) would likely result in blindness frequently, before doing what the show displayed in cooking the brain, and by extension the user to death. Well, I suppose that's what research and discussions are for. To help put the questions on the table and help us get closer to a solution. Honestly your TPU suggestion, and Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS), Transscranial Electrotherapy and Nanobots seem to be the only technologies that can get the desired effect. At this point, I'm more than comfortable with just having something of a hybrid between a complete BCI and series of natural body pathway immersion systems for my own VR solutions in the near future.
Thanks for the information. I hope we can get a bit more weighing in on the actual experience part of the system rather than the development. I'm trying to think more along the lines of how people will use this stuff rather than stuff itself. I'm pretty sure most people don't want their friends drawing all over them, taking pictures of them, or to be burned to death in a housefire due to VR immersion. On a similar line, I'm pretty sure that using VR on the go is about as smart as sleeping on the go, if not worse due to the lack of worldly connections.
On the note of EEGs, I can agree without a doubt that their current state isn't right for virtual reality controls, but I actually think that further development, optimization, computational improvements, and data can help us craft it to be a technology that can meet the required purpose. I don't think complete mind reading would be something achievable with EEGs, but something more along the lines of reliable muscle coordination tracking could be inferred if we examine the current "noise" that's plaguing the data. I may be mistaken on the nature of some of EEGs issues, but I recall reading somewhere that EEG suffers from latency due to data processing and the noise that even slight movements of the head can create. I'd actually like to further examine this due to the possibility that this noise could be tied to motor event related potentials that could be attributed to precise actions if we use EMGs, EKGs, and EOGs to track the occurrence of particular actions. Processing wise, I suppose that Moore's law may give us hope (though admittedly that is scheduled to die off within this decade/century which could put a damper on things), but in the event that this doesn't work, I think optimizing the EEG approach would be the best route I can see now. If another, better method comes about that is easily implantable and or non invasive, by all means I'll be the first to sign up and through my wallet around for a test run (not that the wallet is that heavy...). Personally, I'm not sure I fancy the idea of direct brain implants of chips just yet. I don't want my to modify my body in any way until I'm sure that the change renders the body obsolete.
On your note of the differences between brains, this is one region where I think some kind of calibration process will be required as you're right, every brain and by extension, everyone is different. Hijacking the central neural system is probably a necessary part of developing the optimal BCI. I honestly think that the part of the body we aren't paying enough attention to is the surrounding nerves that lead into the spinal cord. Peripheral nerves are capable of regeneration and even the spinal cord itself has seen some progress in the realm of regeneration in labs. Though, direct neural interfaces do imply we want direct access to the brain so in a way, so you're probably right to note the need to tread carefully. I spent a bit of yesterday researching the anime Sword Art Online's Nerve Gear interface for a video and found that the cited method the story mentioned (microwaves) would likely result in blindness frequently, before doing what the show displayed in cooking the brain, and by extension the user to death. Well, I suppose that's what research and discussions are for. To help put the questions on the table and help us get closer to a solution. Honestly your TPU suggestion, and Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS), Transscranial Electrotherapy and Nanobots seem to be the only technologies that can get the desired effect. At this point, I'm more than comfortable with just having something of a hybrid between a complete BCI and series of natural body pathway immersion systems for my own VR solutions in the near future.
Thanks for the information. I hope we can get a bit more weighing in on the actual experience part of the system rather than the development. I'm trying to think more along the lines of how people will use this stuff rather than stuff itself. I'm pretty sure most people don't want their friends drawing all over them, taking pictures of them, or to be burned to death in a housefire due to VR immersion. On a similar line, I'm pretty sure that using VR on the go is about as smart as sleeping on the go, if not worse due to the lack of worldly connections.