Discussion

This smh.com.au article reports Pope Benedict XVI said that the media's increasing reliance on images, fuelled by the endless development of new technologies, risked confusing real life with virtual reality. From the article: "New technologies and the progress they bring can make it impossible to distinguish truth from illusion and can lead to confusion between reality and virtual reality," the pope said.

"The image can also become independent from reality, it can give birth to a virtual word, with various consequences - above all the risk of indifference towards real life," he said.

He said the use of new technologies should set off "an alarm bell".

This ScienceDaily article reports teenage online community users feel part of their online community almost as much as they feel part of their own family. From the article: "An international study of the users of teenage online community Habbo reveals that users identify more strongly with the online community than with their neighbourhood or offline hobby group. The study is based on a survey with 4299 respondents from United Kingdom, Spain and Japan. All three nationalities yielded similar results.

The study was authored by Dr. Vili Lehdonvirta, a researcher at the Helsinki Institute for Information Technology HIIT (currently a visiting scholar at the University of Tokyo), and Professor Pekka Räsänen from the University of Turku, Finland.

This Neurokuz article discuss the illusion of body ownership in relation to VR. From the article: "The classic ‘rubber hand illusion’ gives profound insight to our brain’s ability to confuse the real and living with the inanimate. Originally reported by Matthew Botvinick and Jonathan Cohen in 1998, when people have their hand hidden from view and watch a dummy hand being stroked with a paintbrush while their hidden hand is also stroked, they feel the stroke to be coming from the dummy hand rather than their real hand.

From the Singularity Hub website: "With the amazing video recording and production systems commercially available, how hard can it be to create a realistic virtual reality environment? I mean, all we really need are some cameras, some computers, and a video screen, right? Well, Virtualization Gate, a new project from the INRIA and Grenoble University in France, debuted at SIGGRAPH in early August.

This AdvertisingAge article reports Neil Dessau, the senior VP-chief marketing officer of AMD, recently said the worlds of film and video games are about to fuse. From the article: "It's possible to have a video game of "The Godfather" with a character that looks like Marlon Brando. And soon it will be just as possible for Marlon Brando to star in a new film.

This Northlands Newscenter article reports a controversy is brewing over the army combat simulator which will be showcased at the Duluth Air Show. From the article: "The Duluth Air Show doesn't start until next Saturday, but controversy surrounding the event has already taken flight.

It involves a realistic combat simulator used by military recruiters that will be showcased at the Airshow. As Joel Runck explains, the U-S Army is taking the world of virtual reality to a whole new level.

"It's not the same as plopping a couple quarters into a game," said David Boe, Duluth Air and Aviation Expo, public relations director.

It's called the Virtual Army Experience. According to the U-S Army, the technology creates a life-sized combat zone.

This Daily Trojan article takes a look at the significance and possibilities of virtual immersion. From the article: "Engaging in a virtual reality simulation or experiencing a 360-degree film, immersion is surrounding yourself inside a medium. The applications of immersion are diverse, varying from artistic to therapeutic to journalistic.

Five accomplished guests in very distinct fields met last Wednesday at the USC Gerontology Center to share their opinions about immersion and its significance.

The guests discussed topics such as panoramic movie maps and immersion in nature, briefly touching on the psychological questions raised by the subject.

This BBC News article reports Ray Kurzweil predicts computers the size of blood cells will create fully immersive virtual realities by 2033. From the article: "Exponential growth in processing power and the shrinking of technology would see the development of microscopic computers, he said.

"We will see a billion-fold increase in the price-performance of computers in the next 25 years," he said.

"Virtual will compete with reality," he told the Game Developers Conference.

Pea-sized computer

Mr Kurzweil said it was possible to accurately predict the growth and change in computing power by looking at how it had developed over the last 50 years.

"There will be a 100,000-fold shrinking of computer technology over the next 25 years," he said.

This Baseline article looks at how learning the personal, behavioral traits of multiple, online personas will be important to the future of business-to-consumer strategies and practices. From the article: "Bill is a gear head.

If you want to sell a car to Bill—a professional in his early 40s—you need to come at him specs first. Don’t talk to him about cup holders and fold-down rear seats. When you find Bill, a.k.a. TrakBurner115, in the Edmund’s CarSpace.com forums, talk to him about horsepower and foot-pounds of torque. Talk to him about how many other car enthusiasts are salivating for the same vehicle.

Stone is a head banger.

This eFluxMedia article reports a new study concluded that outdoor activities are being replaced by the virtual reality. From the article: "According to the findings of the study conducted by Oliver Pergams, visiting research assistant professor of biological sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago, people prefer to spend more time online or watching their favorite shows in the tube.

"There's a real and fundamental shift away from nature - certainly here [in the United States] and possibly in other countries," said Oliver Pergams

This is not the first time when Pergams has investigated the decline of the outdoor activities in people’s preferences.