Oculus Rift Spoof

For all Oculus Rift lovers, this is an amazingly funny spoof! Check it out!

Robots and Human Interaction

It is inevitable that the future will produce robots that can interact with humans and look like humans. This 45 minute documentary talks about the past and present of robotics research. According to the video, the most intelligent robot in the world is still less intelligent than a toddler. The power of human intelligence is astounding!

Building robots requires a lot of work, dedication, and complex mathematical equations. Think of a future where robots are able to "think", "create", and act like a human. The future is coming. Social media has already changed human interaction from face-face communication to telecommunication and even pure written communication.

With the development of human-like robots, the future of communication will change even more than it has in the past decade. Robots will change how we do things because some of their capabilities go beyond that of humans.

The movie, i robot, is getting closer to being a reality than just a fictional reality created by the human imagination.

How I Got Started in Virtual Realities

In my Introduction to Anthropology class, my professor had us watch a short YouTube video called, An Anthropological Introduction to YouTube. It seems far fetched, but Michael Wesch, a professor of anthropology and media ecology at Kansas State University put media in a whole new light.

He talks about the sharing of ideas on the web and how the media changes human relationships. My main idea came in the form of emotions and how social media and virtual realities effect emotions and more specifically, how we grieve. Let me throw something out there.

If virtual realities gave people the ability to, in essence, "upload their personality", how would that change the grieving process?

My personal idea? People would be able to continue talking to their loved ones after they have passed away. There are many implications to this idea. Would the avatar grow? Would they be "frozen in time"? Is the personality real? I honestly don't know.

The idea of virtual realities has been around since the 1950's, but only recently has debuted in society. So the implications, of virtual realities, have not been tested on a broader, world wide scale. But it has the potential to change what we know as real.

Dr. Wesch discusses YouTube in his video, but it was the beginning of a much larger, more complicated form of media, virtual space. We use media to connect, make friendships, love, laugh, maybe even to live. Most of us use media on a daily basis.

So I dare to ask, what are your thoughts on virtual realities and how will they change human interaction?

The Today and Tomorrow: Teens and Social Media

How many hours of the day do you spend on the internet; surfing, checking Facebook, Twitter, or any other form of media? I know for myself, it can be 30+ minutes per day!


So let's talk about a younger age group. How many minutes per day are teens (ages 10-18) spending online? What does their future look like in terms of media and social interactions?

According to Rachel Ehmke's article, Teens and Social Media, from the Child Mind Institute, "Teens are masters at keeping themselves occupied in the hours after school until way past bedtime. When they're not doing their homework (and when they are) they're online and on their phones, texting, sharing, trolling, scrolling, you name it."

They do this to receive recognition and maintain their image (Click HERE to watch YouTube video or scroll down).

She discusses how this development is shifting teen communication. Instead of face-to-face interactions, teens are spending more time texting and interacting in less confrontational ways. Her article has three sections; Cyberbullying and the imposter syndrome, Stalking (and being ignored), and What should parents do.

Each section discusses the mental implications of being in a world where social media drives our social interactions, but I want to take it further than just social media.

Social media is just the tip of the iceberg and just the beginning of a whole new form of social interaction, virtual interaction. In a virtual space teens, and adults, are able to create a whole new image.

Today, research shows that kids develop low self-esteem through the use of electronic communication because it removes the risks involved with making and maintaining friendships. In a virtual world, that risk could be removed even more.

1) Perfection will take on a whole new meaning, teens will no longer need to feel comfortable with their own bodies because they can create new ones. They can feel comfortable in a virtual body that they have complete control over, a body that is perfect.

How might acceptance change?

2)  With virtual avatars, social interactions can be just as abruptly ended, as texting, by logging out.

3) Variables can be accounted for and controlled in virtual worlds, so the concept of an unknown would become non existent.

Ernest Cline talks about his book, Ready Player One

Ernest Cline discusses his book, Ready Player One, which he published in 2011. It's an extremely nerdy book, focusing on 80's pop culture and video games, but it also focuses on the idea of full immersion in virtual space.

Being interested in virtual realities myself, I loved the book and found it really pushes the boundaries of what we consider possible.

A must read for any video game nerd or those interested in virtual realities!
Click HERE to purchase a copy!

Do We Live in a Virtual World?

According the the Wall Street Journal, Facebook recently bought the company Oculus for $2 billion. Oculus specializes in immersive virtual reality products. Their most recent product, Oculus Rift, has been receiving a lot of hype since Facebook's purchase and seems to have high expectations of where this technology could lead.

Although the Oculus Rift seems like a great technological advancement, what problems may it present in the future? As of right now, Oculus created the goggles for video gaming; like Halo, Call of Duty, and other action games with high action movement.

 From where I stand that seems to be only the beginning of the Oculus Rift. With an ever increasing amount of teens participating in online communities like Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and more. I believe that with technology, like the Oculus VR, teens will be given an ever greater ability to immerse themselves within virtual reality. I see a problem with this.

How many hours of the day, do we, do I, spend on social networking sites? Probably more than most of us can count. Imagine how much more time could be spent in a realm not displayed in 2D but in 3D! Other than the knowledge that it is not real, the experience is convincing and forgetting about reality is just a hop, skip, and a jump away.

Please jump into the world of virtual space with me and share your own thoughts and ideas of where this technology may take us. Beam us up, Scotty!