3 ms·

I honestly think everything is going to go information. Also, I think that games, the little industry that could, is going to totally disrupt and destroy creat

I honestly think everything is going to go information. Also, I think that games, the little industry that could, is going to totally disrupt and destroy creative media production and consumption (movies/music/tv). Get ready to see an entire industry absolutely crush it. Human needs - outside of survival - are largely experiences. Having that great car, going on that ski trip, watching a movie, having a good family, spending time with people we like etc. I'm talking first world here (the vast majority of consumption). The rest of the world will catch up (I'm fully aware of their situation). Experiences are information and information is cheap, scalable, plentiful and most importantly - limitless. Want a great house? Jack into your own personal VR and have whatever you like. Want to drive a lambo through Monte Carlo in the summer? GTA 15 has got that covered. Want to go out with a French supermodel? Done and done. If all humans want are experiences then photoreal VR has, or will have, everything you could possibly need (outside of survival). You can create music. You can create movies. You can do that which you cannot do because of scarce resources (I'm ignoring the second law of thermodynamics). Games are going to lead the charge, and you can already see the beginnings of it with the rise of the Machinima movement and, most importantly, with the recent release of photoreal game engines that support full scale movie production and development (Valve with Source Filmaker and Crytek's Real Time Cinema tech). The price of making films is going to zero. The price of making novels is going to zero. Music - zero. Flying a jet - zero. Whatever it is that you want - VR can and will do it - and it will begin within this decade. Indeed - with the advent of fusion - energy is going to zero. What could you achieve if everything was free? What happens when you can divide by zero? We may very well see the death of physical consumption within this century (outside of fusion supplied energy). Tell me I'm crazy. Sources: Crytek CryEngine 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqNHJ-ekMR4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqNHJ-ekMR4 Source FilmMaker: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zri1c_If6Ic http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zri1c_If6Ic DICE FrostBite 2 for Battlefield 3 - "Is it real?": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtMaJf45mQ8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtMaJf45mQ8 [E3 2012] Watch Dogs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xU7WGAJPRRw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xU7WGAJPRRw [E3 2012] The Last of Us: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbLOokeC3VU http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbLOokeC3VU Red vs. Blue epic fight scene: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ke9wtbzGjCI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ke9wtbzGjCI GTA4 "Like a G6" music video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5tuUU5dKb8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5tuUU5dKb8

Swizec 14y ago
> If all humans want are experiences then photoreal VR has, or will have, everything you could possibly need (outside of survival) But it's just not the same. Even if it looks, feels, tastes, smells and acts the same. It's not. The real trick will be, can we convince people that they actually experienced that? The moment they know it was a simulation, they will feel like something's missing. Same as even though chocolate produces the same chemical response as sex does ... it can't quite replace sex. (I'm not a biologist, this is data I picked up from Discovery Channel, but I do know chocolate doesn't replace sex)
- confluence 14y ago
  Not with current tech - no. But I highly doubt this is an insurmountable obstacle. Humans can be convinced of many things that aren't in fact "real" or in indeed supported by any evidence other than appealing to human emotions/biases/prejudices (religon/"natural" markets/trickle down economics/communism/libertarianism/racisim). Give it time - it will happen. Or we nuke ourselves in the process of getting there. Either way it'll be blast (see what I did there?).
  - Swizec 14y ago
    What I'm saying is more along the lines of: 1. Step into a machine you know is VR - even though the experience will be fine, it won't be "quite the same" 2. Step into an aeroplane and fly around the world for ten hours. Then see something cool and go back home. - it will be an awesome experience .... even though everything beyond the airport's front gate was VR. And even then, as soon as it got out the whole airport and everything beyond was VR, there would be people willing to pay a lot for the real thing. I think what I'm saying is VR will be the McDonald's of experiences.
- stinkytaco 14y ago
  >But it's just not the same. Even if it looks, feels, tastes, smells and acts the same. It's not. Isn't it? Roller coasters give us the illusion of danger. Haunted houses the illusion of fear. Pornography the illusion of sex. All of these are "fake" but continue to be popular because they create an experience in our minds. Maybe because all of these things appeal to baser, more automatic reponses they can defy rationality, but manipulating reality is already common practice.

Swizec 14y ago

> If all humans want are experiences then photoreal VR has, or will have, everything you could possibly need (outside of survival) But it's just not the same. Even if it looks, feels, tastes, smells and acts the same. It's not. The real trick will be, can we convince people that they actually experienced that? The moment they know it was a simulation, they will feel like something's missing. Same as even though chocolate produces the same chemical response as sex does ... it can't quite replace sex. (I'm not a biologist, this is data I picked up from Discovery Channel, but I do know chocolate doesn't replace sex)

confluence 14y ago
Not with current tech - no. But I highly doubt this is an insurmountable obstacle. Humans can be convinced of many things that aren't in fact "real" or in indeed supported by any evidence other than appealing to human emotions/biases/prejudices (religon/"natural" markets/trickle down economics/communism/libertarianism/racisim). Give it time - it will happen. Or we nuke ourselves in the process of getting there. Either way it'll be blast (see what I did there?).
- Swizec 14y ago
  What I'm saying is more along the lines of: 1. Step into a machine you know is VR - even though the experience will be fine, it won't be "quite the same" 2. Step into an aeroplane and fly around the world for ten hours. Then see something cool and go back home. - it will be an awesome experience .... even though everything beyond the airport's front gate was VR. And even then, as soon as it got out the whole airport and everything beyond was VR, there would be people willing to pay a lot for the real thing. I think what I'm saying is VR will be the McDonald's of experiences.
stinkytaco 14y ago
>But it's just not the same. Even if it looks, feels, tastes, smells and acts the same. It's not. Isn't it? Roller coasters give us the illusion of danger. Haunted houses the illusion of fear. Pornography the illusion of sex. All of these are "fake" but continue to be popular because they create an experience in our minds. Maybe because all of these things appeal to baser, more automatic reponses they can defy rationality, but manipulating reality is already common practice.