Virtual Reallity you can touch

This article seemed pretty interesting and as the technology gets better it can begin to make virtual reality indistinguishable from "real reality." Here's some quotes from the article.

Researchers at the Computer Vision Lab at ETH Zurich have developed a method with which they can produce virtual copies of real objects. The copies can be touched and even sent via the Internet. By incorporating the sense of touch, the user can delve deeper into virtual reality.

Sending a friend a virtual birthday present, or quickly beaming a new product over to a customer in America to try out – it sounds like science fiction, but this is what researchers at the Computer Vision Lab want to make possible, with the aid of new technology. Their first step was to successfully transmit a virtual object to a spatially remote person, who could not only see the object, but also feel it and move it.

The researchers have already achieved this superimposition of the real and virtual worlds, which is termed “augmented reality”, in an earlier project. There, they developed a ping-pong game in which only the handle of the bat exists in reality. With a virtual striking surface, two players can bat the virtual ball to one another. “It feels quite similar to a real game,” says Matthias Harders.

In their next EU project, whose name, “Beaming”, is reminiscent of the Starship Enterprise, the scientists are going a step further. They are planning a method of teleportation, in other words for transporting people. “Only virtually, of course,” Harders assures us. This would, for example, make it possible to take part in a conference without having to be present in person, which would save time and travel costs. At the same time, interaction with other participants would be more intensive than is possible in video conferences, for example. “The idea is to generate the feeling of sitting together with other people at a table”.

www.ethlife.ethz.ch...

This is pretty interesting. The beaming part sounds like that movie Surrogates. The difference will be your Surrogate will be a virtual copy of yourself.

This could be a double edged sword when people began to like their virtual lives better than their real lives.

This will be the way we time travel also. We will meet a virtual Pharoah of Egypt or meet a Virtual King Henry and Ann Boleyn at the Kings Court.

Also, will the simulated beings know their simulated or will they think they are real? It will be like the Star Trek episode when Picard was Detective Dixon Hill in the Holodeck and the gangster Redblock didn't believe he was a hologram.

Kinda scary, it could be abused so bad >P Political Agenda.

Sounds brilliant...would reinvent commerce, entertainment, and would allow for untold amounts of positive changes in society

it wont be out for 25+ years minimum, and will be pricy as hell initially I bet.

But its a nice step in the right direction...toss that up on the mountain of stuff "due to be out"

still waiting on my moller skycar btw...grrr

Technology is neither good or evil - yet how we use it.

After playing Mass Effect I would love something like this

Awesome! We're one step closer to discovering that our reality is only our perception. Where did the phrase a figment of your imagination come from anyways? Maybe our past when we know it was true?

The biggest commercial application for this would be the erotic entertainment business.

Nice thread buddy! Just imagine...The "Adult" industry could really use this new development in technology A star and a flag for ya!!!

Originally posted by ringht_n_wrong
Nice thread buddy! Just imagine...The "Adult" industry could really use this new development in technology

A star and a flag for ya!!!

there's actually a load of truth here. the adult industry will reinvent itself on this one. interesting. also military apps will if not already just bloom.

reply to post by Matrix Rising


wow nobody realise the danger of this development...

this is bad

with this invention they will be able to send you a virtual assasin that can touch(stabe,shoot,strangle) you...because if you can touch things well things can touch you

Originally posted by zooplancton

Originally posted by ringht_n_wrong
Nice thread buddy! Just imagine...The "Adult" industry could really use this new development in technology

A star and a flag for ya!!!

there's actually a load of truth here. the adult industry will reinvent itself on this one. interesting. also military apps will if not already just bloom.

exactly why send soldier when you can send virtual soldier

or why even build a thank when you can just design one on the computer and send a virtual copy to the battle field and then just continue copy and past your army

imagine no deployement no fuel neded

[edit on 21-8-2010 by hornyana_jones]

reply to post by hornyana_jones


Good point.

You could get shot and killed with a virtual bullet if it has the force of a real bullet associated with it.

The crazy thing is you could shoot someone with a virtual bullet, turn off the program and the Police will discover you have been shot but there's no bullet.

Originally posted by Matrix Rising
reply to post by hornyana_jones

 

Good point.

You could get shot and killed with a virtual bullet if it has the force of a real bullet associated with it.

The crazy thing is you could shoot someone with a virtual bullet, turn off the program and the Police will discover you have been shot but there's no bullet.

exactly...

anybody could kill and get away with it...

This explains how TPTB will be able to fool the populace with "signs and wonders" and everything in the apocalypse, except it will only be a fake, a false flag to distract. I am prepared to not believe what my eyes are seeing. I will just trust in God.

reply to post by Starbug3MY


yeah but what if they show you god???

Very interesting stuff indeed. I am 29 now, and I really like to think about what computer games will look like when I retire in 30 to 40 years.

I really see a completely new form of addiction coming, when games get to good basically. Imagine you would actually have access to a holo suite like device, why bother with real life anymore?

You can see a beginning of this addiction with some world of warcraft players btw.

Nevertheless this is very interesting, and definately a first step in a very exciting direction.

I think we're getting a bit carried away with the idea of 'virtual bullets'. Where as I think it could be entirely possible within te realm of physics, I think things like that are a long way off.

From what I understand, this application is merely sensation. For instance the same way we 'feel' static electricity. With this, they just seem to order the stimuli into the shape and texture of the object, so when we sense the stimuli, we percieve it as the object.

Similar to thse tactile holograms.

www.fastcompany.com...

These use ultrasonic waves to stimulate your senses.

As I said, energy being ordered into physical presence entirely possible within physics IMO, but this is far, far from it.

EMM