Vivian Vande Velde has a set of books

[conuly]

placed in what I suppose I should call the "Rasmussen universe". The books aren't really connected, but they all involve this game company, Rasmussen, which at some point fairly recently invented this amazing virtual reality set-up. Fully immersive, all the games shown in the books are open-universe RPG types that can host multiple players, one hour in-game seems like one day in your mind, plus the games give you crucial information that you can't play without - like, if you are invited by a NPC to go somewhere at "vespers", the game helpfully inputs the definition of vespers in your mind in a naturalistic way.

The writing is good, they're well worth a read - and as an adult, I have two thoughts. First, once hackers figure this out, there's going to be so much porn. Secondly, this technology is wasted on video games.

Forget the killer AI they apparently have, one hour = one day? So how about we seriously invest in this technology and all the kids middle school and up can knock out their academic classes in 15 minutes, leaving the rest of the day free for the arts, socialization, free study, gym, outdoor studies, and goofing off? Or field trips! You could have the most amazing field trips, at a great low price. And you could do most of it from home.

Have trouble getting all your friends together to watch the new movie? You can *all* find 20 minutes to log in and watch "in the immersive theater", plus the NPC theatergoers don't text through the movie.

Want to catch up on all those books you haven't read, all that TV you haven't watched, all that studying you haven't done? Book a booth, get it done through speedliving.

Of course, office workers would be expected to be ever-so-much more productive, but them's the breaks. And I guess tourism would go into a steep decline if people could visit Paris, Rome, Disneyworld, all without leaving their hometown.

Suffice to say, this technology would be amazingly disruptive. Maybe it's best they just use it for... video games.

Comments

[alessandriana]

It's funny I'm just seeing this post after I spent about half an hour this evening 'walking' around via VR an old neighborhood I used to live in. It's not fully immersive, but I could look at the old doorway to our apartments, and see the Chinese restaurant down the street I'd forgotten about... etc.

The porn's already there, for the record. (I googled out of curiosity after I bought my Oculus.)

[conuly]

All new communications tech is colonized primarily by porn before going mainstream. Porn and tracts.

"We Can Remember It For You Wholesale"

[nodrog]

 

I discussed this very topic back in 2008!

“Come to Rekall, where you can buy the memory of your ideal vacation - cheaper, safer and better than the real thing!”

--- --- ---

Why not suddenly 'remember' taking four years of classes?  Good morning; have a seat.  ZAP.  Here's your diploma; have a nice afternoon.  Your memories of the last couple of years now include the classes you took - the subjects you learned.  If you can afford it, the special “Animal House” package livens up your recollections.  Oh you kid…

Such a technique would utterly alter society.  Fifteen years spent in intensive, boot-camp training in the hardest forms of hand-to-hand combat:  ZAP. Of course, your office-worker's body is a soft jelly thing compared to how you now “remember” it; hit the gym, and practice your new reflexes.  Meanwhile, you haven't lost fifteen years of your life; you now remember spending them differently.  And so on…

It could become a form of entertainment.

Once upon a time, if you didn't see the Milton Berle Show, you missed it; at best, someone at the water cooler would inevitably try the next day to imitate the routine for you, with (shall we say) limited success.

Today, you can share the digital recording online, with anyone on the globe. Some shows exist in no other form (“webisodes”).

So: Were you there at the history-making Superbowl game everyone's talking about? No? Would you like to have been?


https://nodrog.dreamwidth.org/757099.html

--- --- ---

I say more there; you are welcome and invited to click!

[readerjane]

Time free for sleeping. Can you imagine being a high schooler AND getting enough sleep?

Thanks for the book rec. Have added to TBR list.

[dorchadas]

I do wonder if something like that became widespread whether in-person tourism would become more popular even as virtual tourism exploded, for the prestige of physical presence. An "Oh sure, but it's not the same as being there" kind of thing.

[conuly]

Oh, definitely, but there wouldn't be as many casual tourists.

[silveradept]

That would certainly revolutionize everything. I suspect people would be waiting for the inevitable use of the technology where a person went to something entertaining and ended up having their brain hacked to commit violence or some other antisocial behavior because the feed was deliberately hacked and corrupted.

[conuly]

I don't think that's possible in-universe. Two books involve medical emergencies - one involving a young girl whose center was attacked by terrorists and now must play to the end of the game to escape, the other involving hackers who didn't realize that the game will totally fuck up the symptoms of a stroke if you have one while playing - but nobody suggests brainwashing as a possibility at all.

[silveradept]

That's excellent, then, and I like that system far better than our own system of infusing knowledge into a person.

Re: "We Can FORGET It For You"

[nodrog]

Memory Engineering

https://news.google.com/stories/CAAqOQgKIjNDQklTSURvSmMzUnZjbmt0TXpZd1NoTUtFUWpUNXVxa2tJQU1FWnZsaTZXVGtoVXVLQUFQAQ?oc=3&ceid=US:en

Re: "We Can FORGET It For You"

[conuly]

We're living in the future.

Re: Living in the Future

[nodrog]

"Robot dogs cheer on Japanese pro baseball team in absence of fans"

http://www.asahi.com/sp/ajw/articles/13543951

Welcome to The Future.