VIRTUAL REALITY Has been demonstrated to be an effective modality of psychotherapy for military suffering from PTSD. Virtual Reality can be used among the civilian community to treat PTSD as well. One thing that we must absolutely prevent is the use of Virtual Reality to train children and youth to be desensitized to acts of violence. We must not repeat the horrific errors made in producing video games that teach violence and increase its frequency and tragedy.
As long as Virtual Reality is indeed filmed real world, I agree with Mr. Dennis. But substituting computer-generated imagery for real world is cheating and lying. The latter leads to pernicious propaganda, commercial advertisements (= another form of dishonest information), brainwashing, and thought-control.
How many times have I awoken from a dream only to realize it was a dream and not real. The notion that you have to be in a real environment to experience it as real is simply not true. VR is approaching the perception/reality line in a way that is hard to imagine.
OK, time to get this article out of the Times, now. Stale, stale, stale stuff about the latest tech toy.
What is 'Virtual Reality" beyond being one more trivial technological bit of window dressing that uses the thrill to obscure the dreadful lack of actual substance?
When the mighty engine of the consumer economy (AKA fleeting junk) slows, everyone rushes to add some new and expensive sparkle so the status junkies can rush to buy it and maintain their status until those around them buy the same silly junk
Then another round of exciting new trivial junk will arrive.
Note: I am not a technophobe, I spent my entire working career and more as a computer technician and programmer. I just know junk when I see it.
When the mighty engine of the consumer economy (AKA fleeting junk) slows, everyone rushes to add some new and expensive sparkle so the status junkies can rush to buy it and maintain their status until those around them buy the same silly junk
Then another round of exciting new trivial junk will arrive.
Note: I am not a technophobe, I spent my entire working career and more as a computer technician and programmer. I just know junk when I see it.
Sound very exciting to produce non-fiction history in 3-D which will result in people feeling as though they are in the "action" scene themselves. However, how many people want to be over-stimulated by war scenes, terrorism scenes, genocide, suicide, extreme violent scenes. We can IMAGINE what it feels like, not actually be traumatized by it. As we know, sound torture in movie theaters, by having the sound waves pounding through out bodies, and in amusement parks where sound, heat, water, etc. are used to overstimulate participants, result in people often times being sickened by what they are sensing around them (e.g., binaural beats, extreme cold or overheating, being hit by wind or water, objects jumping off the screen at you, exaggerated sense of danger, etc.)
From the view of an everyday person, and a journalist I find VR to be an incredible tool. Mobile VR especially creates the environment for anyone to provide their personal experiences first hand in the most authentic of ways. I believe VR to be the future of social media and other forms of multimedia journalism. Apps such as Youtube provide portals into this world that are extremely easy to navigate. A great example is Unstitched By Ruvan Wijesooriya https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1fxUiTLGEo. "Unstitched is a virtual reality fashion experience directed by Ruvan Wijesooriya in collaboration with Virtualize in association with The Endless Collective. It has been adapted to 360 for the YouTube app. This independent, lo-fi exploration of the VR space gives viewers unique and playful access to a studio during a real editorial fashion photography shoot." There are very few limits to this technology and I strongly believe that anyone can be brought to experiences they've never thought possible. As VR becomes a mainstream through mobile technology it should be interesting to see the immersive events come through more and more.
With 360 videos roaming Facebook and gaming developers about to debut their newest VR technologies, there's no doubt that these other VR experiences will soon be more available to the public. People may doubt VR and criticize it now, but once it's released unto the market, there is no doubt that it will soon be in the homes of everyone. Although this article only mentions a few samples of the possibilities of VR, there are millions of other uses that will be able to educate us about anything. Maybe VR will eventually get to the point where it immerses not just 2 of our senses, but all of them as well. That future could pose as a threat too, but for every yin exists a yang. All I know for sure, though, is that I'm welcoming VR with open arms and my imagination is running rampant.
In a world that practically revolves around technology and innovation, the implications of virtual reality on our future, and future generations, are truly outstanding! With VR headsets and other VR devices, we may see, feel, and experience, all at once, while not actually being present in a physical situation. This not only opens the door to more empathy towards our fellow human beings, creatures, and surroundings, but also gives way to increased knowledge and understanding of real-life experiences, prevalent and often problematic psychological effects (such as the Bystander Effect), and even history from hundreds to thousands of years ago. Truly, with virtual reality technology, we may expect a better education system, and a more humane and compassionate world—one that is brought together by understanding of the past and present, not divided by minor differences and misunderstandings.
I worry that the VR we have now will be incomplete when they release it. My few experiences with VR have left me with aching eyes and a nauseated stomach. If VR becomes popular enough to be used by many people before we have better equipment, I fear that our already almost universal vision problems will only multiply. Even now, using my cellphone or computer for too long will leave my eyes dry and tired. If we are to use these VR goggles that put screens up to our face and mess with our sense of vision and balance, it could be an epidemic. If we could just find another way to view VR, one that isn't so taxing on us, it could become a great revolution in entertainment and maybe even news telling industries. However, as it is now I don't think VR will change much of anything.
This article is completely reminiscent of VR reportage in the 1990s, right down to the "Oohs!" and "Ahs!" by apparently overcome journalists who predict developments for which current virtual-worlds technology is woefully inadequate. This isn't to say that "VR" is unimportant, or that its popular manifestations will improve in veracity. It's more important at the moment to deal with the real, progressive uses of immersive and emotive technologies, rather than Sundance movies. The field and its industry suffer each time VR's unrealistic trivialities are championed and its socially valuable uses relegated to the tech pages. NYTVR is a bauble, not what I'd call quality journalism.
2
I agree with Mr. Dennis that virtual reality could be a great tool in the sharing of experiences with other people by allowing us to be "immersed" in their world or situation. However, I disagree that the VR technology of today has this affect. The VR that I have experienced has not left me with this feeling at all, but just a sick feeling in my stomach. These tools do have great potential for the entertainment world though. The movie industry could benefit from this, having the ability to be fully engaged in the scene of a movie is fascinating to me. I do believe that VR will never truly feel like real-life though. If you're looking to feel the rush of skiing down a mountain, you're going to have to actually go out and do the activity. This could eventually be a useful tool in learning new techniques for various activities such as sports or theatre. There are many advantages to the technology of VR, but at this point I don’t believe that we can truly feel empathy for someone else without having an actual connection with them. I hope the technology continues to improve in the future and can eventually give us this feeling,
I agree with that the use of virtual reality can help people to understand and share in an experience of someone else’s. I think that being able to show the reality of current issues is very important for people to be aware of and I feel that by creating a virtual reality of current issues people will be able to better understand the problems we are faced with in day to day life. I think that people will be able to experience exactly what our world is being faced with when shown the realities of other people. I agree that virtual reality can help give people a sense of hope amid a crisis because as the viewer we are being pulled into their crisis through our empathy. I think that being able to capture the essence of chaos, nature, decay, and beauty leaves an effect on people by giving us a sense of perspective and an idea of what life is like in other parts of the world. I think that virtual reality has the potential to widen our own personal views and may even cause us to form ideas of our own on how we may be able to change and open our minds to new things.
1
Thank you mister Dennis i used this article for my article of the week project for English at school and i was already interested in V.R but this made me even more thanks
When 'immersed' in a VR experience, the point-of-view of the viewer - that is, the relationship between the eye and the projection screen - is rigidly locked in by the nature of the technology (while the body's presence in space is rendered by degrees redundant!). As we consult screens more often, the rigid optical architecture locks us into a technologically-predetermined point-of-view.
To those believing that this is a revolution in learning about the world that we are *already* immersed in, I suggest that they take a bush-whacking hike in the desert to understand that it is embodied movement that actually 'changes' ones point of view. The 'creatives' forget that the media consumers they rely on are at the receiving end of a passive and predetermined experience. Learning is about coming to terms with what it is to be an embodied human in a wider world, *not* what others would like to project on our static and rapidly reifying retinas.
VR has been 'developing' for several decades but a persistent problem is the creation of eye-candy 'content' ("treats" as Holly H exclaims!) by the purveyors of entertainment that spawns a herd of unthinking zombies.The 3D 'revolution', as yet another artifact of Cartesian disconnect with the world, only takes us further on the trajectory of social alienation from the world that, in the end, we have to deal with, *in*, not out of our bodies!
Consider this alternative definition of virtuality: http://wp.me/prVzk-jAf ...
To those believing that this is a revolution in learning about the world that we are *already* immersed in, I suggest that they take a bush-whacking hike in the desert to understand that it is embodied movement that actually 'changes' ones point of view. The 'creatives' forget that the media consumers they rely on are at the receiving end of a passive and predetermined experience. Learning is about coming to terms with what it is to be an embodied human in a wider world, *not* what others would like to project on our static and rapidly reifying retinas.
VR has been 'developing' for several decades but a persistent problem is the creation of eye-candy 'content' ("treats" as Holly H exclaims!) by the purveyors of entertainment that spawns a herd of unthinking zombies.The 3D 'revolution', as yet another artifact of Cartesian disconnect with the world, only takes us further on the trajectory of social alienation from the world that, in the end, we have to deal with, *in*, not out of our bodies!
Consider this alternative definition of virtuality: http://wp.me/prVzk-jAf ...
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Contends Dennis: "No matter how enlightened any one of us may be, we are fundamentally limited to our own points of view — but it is human nature to try to broaden our perspective." In addition to being overly broad, riddled with ambiguity, and vague, it is a proposition inherently ignorant of the fundamental fact that the constitution of our very mind and consciousness is a social construction. Indeed, as both experience and postmodern philosophes such as Foucault have recognized, the fundamental identity and mind of civilized men and women are the product of a cultural subjectivization. In short, we've been subjectivized, and any POV we harbor or identify as personal, seems more a psycho-existential identification with that by which we have been subjectivized. Consequently, what is deemed a personal viewpoint amounts to little more than a point of departure, and not a point of conformity or something that "fundamentally" limits our perspective, as Dennis so casually grounds his thesis.
I first saw "Avatar" in I-Max and was blown away. I half expected to see bullet holes in the walls of the theater when it was over. A few months later I bought a Blu-Ray disc of it and watched it on my 39" TV. The visuals were still great, but the story came through much better, because I wasn't distracted by the spectacle. I just saw Star Wars last Thursday. I deliberately chose 2D because I wanted to see the story. I could tell that the battle scenes were designed for I-Max or 3D, and I'm sure they would have been spectacular, but I think they would have upstaged the story, and that is what I was there to see.
Bottom line: VR, I-Max and all the other high -tech tools are just that: tools, and like any other tools need to be used properly for the job intended.
Bottom line: VR, I-Max and all the other high -tech tools are just that: tools, and like any other tools need to be used properly for the job intended.
1
One person's tool is another person's toy. This is useless silliness unworthy of further repetition in the Times.
Obviously, the focus with which we analyze Virtual reality depends on our capacity of generating a higher level of abstraction in mind. Nowadays, technology set the patterns anytime, anywhere, so that we should be up to date in terms of knowing the effects of technological challenges.
1
I am a digital subscriber. I saw the new email about virtual reality and Sundance....I clicked on it. No virtual reality....am I the only subscriber who never finds what I'm expecting to find when I respond to a NYT email and purpose? It makes me feel like a dummy.
1
Virtual reality is also a very effective agent for political and social propaganda. Values, opinions and behaviors that are favored by the film makers, their financers and ideological supporters are going to get a huge boost while those that offend them will be demonized and marginalized, and all with the huge boost that virtual reality gives to the molding of impressionable minds.
When you think in terms of entertainment -- largely voluntary and seemingly innocent -- virtual reality seems very benign, even a good thing. It's hard to imagine how a good movie can inculcate political values in the mind of children, for example. However, virtual reality is, after all, not reality but a simulation of it. When you look at it with a critical eye it's pretty much a mixed bag with some frightening implications.
Theodore Peterson put it this way: "But even if modern democracies use psychological manipulation instead of totalitarianism's direct and violent forms of social control, the results are not necessarily less effective. Never before have such persuasive and ubiquitous means of communication existed; never before has public opinion been so completely at the mercy of whoever may control the instrument." (The Mass Media and Modern Society, 1965).
When you think in terms of entertainment -- largely voluntary and seemingly innocent -- virtual reality seems very benign, even a good thing. It's hard to imagine how a good movie can inculcate political values in the mind of children, for example. However, virtual reality is, after all, not reality but a simulation of it. When you look at it with a critical eye it's pretty much a mixed bag with some frightening implications.
Theodore Peterson put it this way: "But even if modern democracies use psychological manipulation instead of totalitarianism's direct and violent forms of social control, the results are not necessarily less effective. Never before have such persuasive and ubiquitous means of communication existed; never before has public opinion been so completely at the mercy of whoever may control the instrument." (The Mass Media and Modern Society, 1965).
It gives me a kick reading all the skepticism of VR here and thinking of how absolutely ridiculous the skepticism will seem in as little as 5 years from now. Google cardboard can be OK in some cases, but people who have tried a few of the higher quality experiences through more polished mediums such as Gear VR or Oculus Rift will know what I'm talking about. I've lost count of the number of awe-inspiring things I've seen through VR, and the best part is that this is only the very beginning. Things like TV and smartphones no doubt had their skeptics in the beginning, but it won't be long before VR is taken just as much for granted as they now are.
1
I was just reading Paul Krugman's review of ‘The Rise and Fall of American Growth’ before I clicked over to this. The book talks about how there really hasn't been major innovation fueling growth, not even IT.... I think Virtual Reality is like that. It's a novelty. Until I can have the full Holodeck experience, I'll stick with my actual reality, thanks.
1
Was looking forward to viewing this with an iphone 6 and cardboard (cheap "dodocase," works just fine with other VR stuff), but unfortunately the VR image pairs for these videos are set too close, even touching. All I get is unwatchable double vision. NYT really should update the app with an adjustable setting so one can use it with various cardboard viewers.
The cheap view I bought was $12 and has adjustable lens....
Waves of Grace app could not be found in the Apple App Store
How immersive could it be on a tiny smartphone screen? Why not have an option to play it on a desktop or laptop, which have more power and a far bigger screen? The still image of the bison on my 23" desktop screen looks great - but it is just a single image.
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Since you're looking at the iPhone screen with your eyes practically touching it, the screen fills your field of vision. I'll grant that a larger viewing area would be even more convincing, but I was highly impressed with the illusion of reality generated by my phone and a cardboard viewer.
where? into a donald trump press conference featuring you-betcha herself, wherein, i can assure, you'll find nary a virtue and a very scary reality .
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These definitely have a power to them, but I find that the image quality (especially with the sun in the bison shot) watching it on the smartphone is akin to VHS - just surround VHS. The camera design does not take into account the close-up it seems - the truly interesting things (the bison coming up to the camera), unfortunately are mis-stitched and distorted, and don't allow us to really look at the bison head. A technique that the AMERICAN BISON employs from which WAVES OF GRACE could benefit, is allowing for a long take. No sooner had I registered what was going on and noticed something interesting (the little boy in the Phillies t-shirt in the school!) than it was taken away from me. I know that the filmmaker wants to control that experience, but I don't think this is the right medium for the kind of film we see in WAVES OF GRACE. But I rewound it many times to look at the classroom scene, while turning down the voice over. Some of these scenes will stay with you.
1
Is it possible to specify the VR headset I'm using with the nytvr app? Many of the VR apps allow you to do this by scanning a qr code on the headset.
1
On the other hand, this really is great news. I'm especially looking forward to the new virtual-reality Viagra commercials that will for sure be coming out - especially the part where the sultry temptresses won't just be in my living room as a salesperson, but whatever else I may "really" want them for. This is going to be a "real" problem for my wife. Virtual reality is probably going to really get me killed.
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Watch Revenant. Then read about the bison scene. Ooooh wonderful
As a VR industry person, I am so pleased to see journalists and storytellers making use of these emerging formats, and of course for consumers to give it a try. Mobile VR is a nice introduction, but I worry that it can be a turn-off, because without the ability to head-track, it can feel a little, ah, weak-sauce, shall we say. I hope that in 2016 with the emergence of the Vive and the Oculus and other HMDs, we will finally be able to start showing the real immersive power that VR can bring. Soon perhaps there will be a third button, next to "Download from the App Store", will be"View on an HMD". THEN we will all be in for a real treat!
2
It takes time for us to learn how to use and appreciate new media. Films evolved from essentially recorded plays to something intrinsically different, but that took time. Take these comments and experiences as early looks at an evolving technology. Of course there will be excessive rhetoric and a mix of ideas - the aspirational aspects even if sometimes a little over the top are ultimately about the desire to create something. Worth respecting and appreciating....now lets' see what's next.
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Folks, LSD works best and it still doesn't cost as much as a movie or headset (you are born with your own headset).
In some way this reminds me of one example of what hell was supposed to be like: One is thirsty, they know there is such a thing as water but that can't touch it or touch it with their lips and thereby remain thirsty forever. That's what I feel when I try an image what I've seen and touched for real replicated in Virtual Reality. It looks like its there, but that's all, because it's really not. But a nice try, though. Sorry, but we still can't beat Mother Nature. Thankfully.
2
Sorry, but we still can't beat Mother Nature. Yet.
FTFY ;)
FTFY ;)
1
Enjoy your "virtual" world when it comes for you, Paul. Hopefully I'll be dead by then. Because if the very beauty and majesty of what's natural can be turned into an "indistinguishable" virtual simulation, just image what the same technology can do with the imaginary nightmares that we dream up that aren't really real - with such new technologies now they can be such that now you'll have to feel they're real, with no way to escape them, because that's now the only world you know. If that's what you call living, you're welcome to it.
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Danfung Dennis writes: "In V.R., we instinctively feel a surge of empathy for those whose experiences we are immersed in. The suffering of people in war zones becomes our suffering, just as the killing of animals in the wild and in factory farms becomes a source of our pain as well."
Really? The only unpleasantness I've felt with VR was a sense of total claustrophobia and nausea, not the pain of others. What's more, we shouldn't deceive ourselves that VR provides an "immersion" in others' lives or that it permits other's suffering to become ours. What vanity. No technology will ever bridge the distance between two people or between people and other species and it's pure ideology to believe otherwise. Some commenters here tell the critics of VR to lighten up about our fears of it replacing reality, but when the apologists for VR say things like Mr Dennis has, I wonder if they don't have something to fear.
Really? The only unpleasantness I've felt with VR was a sense of total claustrophobia and nausea, not the pain of others. What's more, we shouldn't deceive ourselves that VR provides an "immersion" in others' lives or that it permits other's suffering to become ours. What vanity. No technology will ever bridge the distance between two people or between people and other species and it's pure ideology to believe otherwise. Some commenters here tell the critics of VR to lighten up about our fears of it replacing reality, but when the apologists for VR say things like Mr Dennis has, I wonder if they don't have something to fear.
7
Yes. What vanity. and what arrogance.
Believe half of what you see,
and none of what you hear!
Somebody, somewhere believes that I want to see advertising all over the the content of what I read. I sense the great amount of power to influence what I think. I, do wonder, about the VR of Trayvon Martin. . . Based on Zimmy's testimony and 911 calls placed by Zimmerman? It's like improving debate tactics!
and none of what you hear!
Somebody, somewhere believes that I want to see advertising all over the the content of what I read. I sense the great amount of power to influence what I think. I, do wonder, about the VR of Trayvon Martin. . . Based on Zimmy's testimony and 911 calls placed by Zimmerman? It's like improving debate tactics!
3
It is very easy to control a person's emotion for ten minutes. I've seen my dad cry at a movie he didn't like or respect. I truly believe he did not like the movie in question, but the combination of swelling music, compelling images, and general atmosphere of pathos generated a strong yet fleeting emotional response,
I am a book person. I think empathy and, well, character are enabled by sustained concentration on ideas beyond one's own fleeting responses and one's own daily obsessions. Therefore, reading something like 'Middlemarch' or seeing 'King Lear' will do more cultivate empathy than VR. But my bias is toward literature and the written word.
Anyhow, I do not see how VR could ever be more fun than either real physical contact or actual skiing/snowboarding (or surfing or driving).
I am a book person. I think empathy and, well, character are enabled by sustained concentration on ideas beyond one's own fleeting responses and one's own daily obsessions. Therefore, reading something like 'Middlemarch' or seeing 'King Lear' will do more cultivate empathy than VR. But my bias is toward literature and the written word.
Anyhow, I do not see how VR could ever be more fun than either real physical contact or actual skiing/snowboarding (or surfing or driving).
7
The science that is being conducted on the long-term psychological effects of VR (versus other media) is still young, but it has consistently shown those effects are more powerful and persistent. For instance, a person who visits a slaughterhouse in a VR simulation is going to have a different attitude about eating meat--and that feeling will last for longer--than someone who reads about slaughterhouses, or watches a documentary about them. So these aren't "fleeting" responses, or at least they are less fleeting than any other medium.
And it's all still in its infancy. It's hardly fair to compare two of the masterpieces of English literature to a medium that is 20 years old. Someday, perhaps there will be a Shakespeare of VR, who will completely understand how the medium works. She will be able to stage Shakespeare plays with viewers at the center of them. There will still be poetry, and drama, and characters. At this point, I suspect, not many people will be reading Shakespeare on the page--sic transit gloria...
On your last point, no one believes that VR = real world. That's a straw man. But if I couldn't afford to go on an expensive ski vacation, or were disabled, or it was summertime, or if I wanted to go heli-skiing in Canada, or Everest, or on some Jovian moon, then I could definitely imagine getting into a ski simulator, and I bet a lot of people will.
And it's all still in its infancy. It's hardly fair to compare two of the masterpieces of English literature to a medium that is 20 years old. Someday, perhaps there will be a Shakespeare of VR, who will completely understand how the medium works. She will be able to stage Shakespeare plays with viewers at the center of them. There will still be poetry, and drama, and characters. At this point, I suspect, not many people will be reading Shakespeare on the page--sic transit gloria...
On your last point, no one believes that VR = real world. That's a straw man. But if I couldn't afford to go on an expensive ski vacation, or were disabled, or it was summertime, or if I wanted to go heli-skiing in Canada, or Everest, or on some Jovian moon, then I could definitely imagine getting into a ski simulator, and I bet a lot of people will.
3
Duh....I thought I was pretty good at manipulating technology, but this has me stumped. How to download (I think I have done that), then access ?? and then view this VR tool??? Please give us a step-by-step process to follow. I have tried to use this new tool several times and each time I have walked away, frustrated by being in a technical blind alley. This is my last cry for help.
You need a Cardboard viewer. Search on Amazon for Google cardboard and buy one, they should be $20 or less. Purchase one with a headband built-in, so you can go hands-free with any VR applications. Once the headset arrives, you follow its included directions to put it back together, and then launch the application from your phone.
2
Gosh, people. One would think that we're talking about abortion here. That any visual medium drives these strong conversations is wonderful, so let's all take a deep breath and say: "yes, I realize it is art, not life." and then simply enjoy photography for the power it has to move us, whether is is shot in 2D, 3D, or 4D.
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Why all these machines? Can't we replicate all this with some decent home grown?
1
Those who have not sampled VR should refrain from commenting. It truly will be life-changing. The technology is very new and its limitations are apparent, but in 10-15 years I often think it may be scary how lines between reality and virtual reality will be blurred.
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I for one can't wait. Exciting times!
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@Brent - "The technology is very new and its limitations are apparent..."
Heard that line 25 years ago! Still is scary how the lines between reality and hype are blurred.
A 360 deg. 3D video can be immersive, but not really VR, where the participant actually changes the story (as we do in real reality.) Call it VR if you like, but it's just a movie where you can look all around.
And yes, I've sampled 100s of hours inside a head mounted display.
http://vrtifacts.com/where-are-they-now/
Heard that line 25 years ago! Still is scary how the lines between reality and hype are blurred.
A 360 deg. 3D video can be immersive, but not really VR, where the participant actually changes the story (as we do in real reality.) Call it VR if you like, but it's just a movie where you can look all around.
And yes, I've sampled 100s of hours inside a head mounted display.
http://vrtifacts.com/where-are-they-now/
3
Wow. They said that in 1839 when photography was introduced.
1
VR sounds really wonderful!
But we human are highly malleable. Once we get used to VR, I am afraid that nothing will amaze us and nothing will shock us, even Donald Trump!
But we human are highly malleable. Once we get used to VR, I am afraid that nothing will amaze us and nothing will shock us, even Donald Trump!
3
Phew. Virtual reality is improving. I was really worried about that.
3
How far our nature is enlightened or unenlightened:--Behold! living in an underground den, which has a mouth open towards the light and reaching all along the den; here they have been from their childhood, and have their legs and necks chained so that they cannot move, and can only see before them. A fire is blazing at a distance, and between the fire and the prisoners there is a raised way; and you will see, a low wall built along the way, like the screen with which marionette players show puppets. Seeing only shadows, which the fire throws on the opposite wall of the cave. To them, the truth would be nothing but shadows.
A prisoner liberated and compelled to see the light, will suffer pains unable to see reality which in his former state he had only seen shadows. Told, that what he saw before was an illusion, but now, turned towards the real ,--what will be his reply? Will he not be perplexed? Will he not fancy that the shadows which he formerly saw are truer than the objects now present?
If he is reluctantly dragged up an ascent, into the presence of the sun, when he approaches the light he will not be able to see?
In measuring the shadows with the prisoners who had never moved out of the den, would he not be ridiculous? Men would say of him that up he went with eyes and down he returned without sight; and that it was better not even to think of ascending; and if any one tried to motion up to the light, let them only catch the offender, and they would put him to death.
A prisoner liberated and compelled to see the light, will suffer pains unable to see reality which in his former state he had only seen shadows. Told, that what he saw before was an illusion, but now, turned towards the real ,--what will be his reply? Will he not be perplexed? Will he not fancy that the shadows which he formerly saw are truer than the objects now present?
If he is reluctantly dragged up an ascent, into the presence of the sun, when he approaches the light he will not be able to see?
In measuring the shadows with the prisoners who had never moved out of the den, would he not be ridiculous? Men would say of him that up he went with eyes and down he returned without sight; and that it was better not even to think of ascending; and if any one tried to motion up to the light, let them only catch the offender, and they would put him to death.
2
Thank you, NYT!
2
The technology is fabulous no doubt, but the attempt to find the singular human value of empathy through technology is facile. Technology can manipulate/simulate or manufacture "presence", but empathy emerges from deep presence that's experienced in real space and time. Also, in the case of war, there is an assumption that the distance makes us fail to empathize with the victims of war, and that mere presence will ignite empathy. Underlying much of what's discussed about VR is this flimsy notion of what's empathy. I feel that empathy is rooted in presence and in experience--experiencing the same harrowing loss that a casualty of war experiences will trigger a fear and horror of death that'll lead to empathy. Empathy is a slow and painfully acquired over the years state of emotion. A VR headset won't get it for us.
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Thanks Sharmila
Yes, thank you Sharmilla for reminding us about true human empathy.
Of course VR isn't like experiencing something in real place or time!--even VR's most enthusiastic promoters aren't saying that. But you either have to believe that it is impossible for any medium--from painting to writing, to photography, to film--to increase empathy, or you must admit that all these forms of communication exist along a continuum of "better to worse in the ability to increase empathy." Unless you have a nearly impossibly restrictive sense of what empathy is (in which case, why even bother reading a newspaper with its old print and photograph technologies!), then it merely remains to decide what's better, and why.
Is it possible for any medium to increase a person's ability to understand the feelings of another? Did Goya drawings elicit empathy? Uncle Tom's Cabin? A NY Times feature on homelessness, or on refugees? If the latter isn't able to make you experience exactly what it is like to be a refugee by actually standing with a refugee (and it can't), does it have no value at all? What if, like in VR filmmaker Chris Milk's "Clouds over Sidra" VR experience, you got see what a Jordanian refugee camp looked like to a displaced Syrian, because it made you feel as if you were actually standing in the middle of it? I tried it and it made me weep--something I've never been moved to do in all the photographs and magazine pieces I've seen about the Syrian crisis.
Is it possible for any medium to increase a person's ability to understand the feelings of another? Did Goya drawings elicit empathy? Uncle Tom's Cabin? A NY Times feature on homelessness, or on refugees? If the latter isn't able to make you experience exactly what it is like to be a refugee by actually standing with a refugee (and it can't), does it have no value at all? What if, like in VR filmmaker Chris Milk's "Clouds over Sidra" VR experience, you got see what a Jordanian refugee camp looked like to a displaced Syrian, because it made you feel as if you were actually standing in the middle of it? I tried it and it made me weep--something I've never been moved to do in all the photographs and magazine pieces I've seen about the Syrian crisis.
I have used the viewer sent by the NYT to view VR content on JauntVR and it has worked perfectly. This content from the NYTimes did not align. It simply didn't work.
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I had a similar problem. The Times tech people advised turning off two settings: Don't allow screen rotation and set the phone for standard view, not zoom. It then worked, although it still may make you a little dizzy or headachey.
Am I the only one finding no trace of "nyt vr" in the iOS app store?
It requires the google cardboard VR, which you can order on amazon and other places. It likely is an Android only App.
There's an iPhone app in the iTunes App Store. It's called NYT VR. I found it by searching for "virtual reality".
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Not Android only. Works fine on iPhones. You do need the cardboard device that the NYT sent along with Sunday papers a while ago or which is available for a nominal amount online.
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Mr. Dennis is barking up the wrong tree:
Complaining that his own photographs didn't elicit the kind of emotional response he wanted he blames it on the viewer, rather than the artist:
" We want to initiate a new generation of viewers jaded by flat images into the visceral emotions of being immersed in a whole new world.'
The power of virtual reality is its command of presence — its ability to transport the viewer into another world, and have him feel present in it' "
No. Cartier Bresson, Ansel Adams, John Filo, Capa, etc. ALL managed to create the most visceral of emotions - fear, disgust, hate, loss - without having to insert the viewer into that photo. Art and its outputs do not need to devolve to the consumeristic level of emotional consumption that is fb and self-involved instagram-ing in order to qualify itself. There is a certain sense of selfishness of wanting to be "in" the scene (FOMO anyone?) and indeed even an invasion of privacy of world and feeling that people ought not be encouraged to wallow in.
No Mr. Dennis, you can make your art, and it has its value. But your failing to get the emotional charge you want can't be blamed on the audience. Only the artist holds the keys to the human heart and make it glow, or the power to make one's eyes weep.
Complaining that his own photographs didn't elicit the kind of emotional response he wanted he blames it on the viewer, rather than the artist:
" We want to initiate a new generation of viewers jaded by flat images into the visceral emotions of being immersed in a whole new world.'
The power of virtual reality is its command of presence — its ability to transport the viewer into another world, and have him feel present in it' "
No. Cartier Bresson, Ansel Adams, John Filo, Capa, etc. ALL managed to create the most visceral of emotions - fear, disgust, hate, loss - without having to insert the viewer into that photo. Art and its outputs do not need to devolve to the consumeristic level of emotional consumption that is fb and self-involved instagram-ing in order to qualify itself. There is a certain sense of selfishness of wanting to be "in" the scene (FOMO anyone?) and indeed even an invasion of privacy of world and feeling that people ought not be encouraged to wallow in.
No Mr. Dennis, you can make your art, and it has its value. But your failing to get the emotional charge you want can't be blamed on the audience. Only the artist holds the keys to the human heart and make it glow, or the power to make one's eyes weep.
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ansel adams used 8 x 10 glass plates for his images, which then were called photos
he didnt need no stinkin' 3d or virtual reality to make art
his brain made th art
he didnt need no stinkin' 3d or virtual reality to make art
his brain made th art
Times are different and viewers' expectations are different as well, especially younger viewers who are used to 3D images in movie theaters and even home TV screens.
I think you need to experience Mr. Dennis' work further before popping off. His documentary is exceptional, and as an artist, he's probably interested in pushing the emotional connections his audience experiences further and further. For him, VR may be closer to what he's trying to achieve.
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