Revelation of virtual reality art show to future games

Artist Mark Farid (Mark Farid) is planning to start his other identity for a period of one months. For this experiment, he is currently looking for support on the Kickstarter website, and he plans to live in a London gallery, wearing a virtual reality head-cover device and a noise-canceling headset, which will completely feed his personal feelings to a single source.

The feed signal will be provided by "someone else," who is a volunteer who will wear a camera-equipped pair of glasses. In this way, what the volunteers see will be transmitted in real time to Fareed's head-and-wear devices in the first-person perspective. Fareed will no longer be in contact with others. He will live in the "others" experience.

The aim of this experiment is to understand whether the brain can adapt to another body--whether our own feelings derive from intrinsic human nature or cultural identity. This is a philosophical question that has plagued us for hundreds of of years: is the body merely a vessel that carries the senses of the brain, or is there an inseparable relationship between consciousness and the body?

We in Cyberspace

The internet has given us the possibility to create virtual identities, and our image of Twitter, Facebook and fantasy games like World of Warcraft may not match our image in real life – we are increasingly adept at playing virtual roles.

But the virtual reality is so interesting that we can delve deeper into the question: whether our own feelings can be shaped. In the past 10, cognitive neuroscientists have been studying the phenomenon of "the illusion of physical transference" (body transmits illusion), which means that the brain can be "tricked" into thinking that it has taken over parts of the body or body that are not part of it. Through the less expensive virtual reality head-wearing devices, such as Oculus Rift and Sony's upcoming Moore (Dream God) Project (Project Morpheus), we may soon be able to project our consciousness beyond cyberspace and take root in different bodies. The experiments at the beginning of this article, although very extreme, may be a signpost for our progress.

With the Oculus Rift development kit, thousands of programmers and designers are creating immersive virtual reality experiences. At a recent Gamescom exhibition in Cologne, Germany, participants had the opportunity to experience the virtual reality version of the game "Alien: Isolation." Players will feel the same as the protagonist Amanda Jupre (Amanda Ripley), in the abandoned space station, facing the death-like aliens, experience the atmosphere of fear. Amanda Jupre is the daughter of Ellen Jupre (Ellen Ripley) in the Alien movie. Many participants expressed a feeling of horror as if they were in the sci-fi world, but others were more interested in the experience of Amanda's body. Players can bow and look at their hands, feet and body--that is theirs, not theirs. When the Oculus Rift and Moore's project are officially launched next year, these are expected to become a common gaming experience for people.

It is true that these are just games, not that we really go through the experience to see how adaptable we are to the new body. For decades, games have been able to put us in the immersive virtual environment. As gamers, we are willing to spend hours, even weeks or months, in the world of the ancient Scrolls: the Sky, the Grand Theft Auto and Warcraft. The adaptability of the virtual reality environment brought about by these games will soon be able to help researchers with virtual incarnation testing.

Should we be worried about that? Some psychologists have expressed concern about Fareed's experiment, which may affect his feelings about himself. "This can be extremely upsetting, and it is not clear whether the damage to Mark's own mental state can be Barbara Sahajian," said Barbara Sahakian, a professor of clinical neuroscience. ”

However, there are also some interesting experiments for virtual avatars, and experiments give positive results and experiences. In 2010, researchers at the University of Barcelona wore virtual reality head-wear devices for 24 male subjects to see and hear images and sounds that were felt by a female character. They found that the subjects quickly developed a deep self-identity of the characters on the screen, and the subjects even showed a sense of fear when their avatar was hit by another character. This concept is also known as the "Body Swap Machine" (the Machine to be Another) art device used, the device is very interesting, allowing 2 participants through virtual reality head-mounted devices and cameras virtual exchange of the body.

Researchers from Barcelona point out that this type of virtual device can be used to treat patients with strokes and to try to regain control of their bodies. But the exploration of these interchangeable bodies has also led to some interesting consequences. This year, Cai Yifei, a student from the Imperial College of Technology, conducted a virtual reality experiment in which one of the experimenters was wearing a virtual reality head-wear device to control the behavior of another experimenter wearing a head-wearing camera and an electronic mock coat.

Although some experimental participants, including the New Scientist, experienced a disturbing experience, Chua believes that the system can help people feel empathy for others ' behavior, such as the feeling of wearing someone else's shoes. Last year, virtual reality researcher Tabisa Peck (Tabitha Peck) conducted a virtual reality experiment and found that racial prejudice was significantly reduced when white subjects simulated the black body.

The sense of self being

Interestingly, the difference between all these experiments and the Fareed project is the control of feelings. It is doubtful that Fareed can provide a simulated interactive virtual reality experience through the view of "others" rather than participation. Berni, a network psychologist, Bernie Goude that only through an interactive experience can we truly feel the presence of a virtual environment.

"It's different to actually experience a life that doesn't actually control an interactive experience," she says. "In virtual reality games, players can control the environment around them, which is the key to experiencing their own existence and immersion," he said. Through the actual experience of life, individuals can develop their own unique social attributes, which in turn affect the individual's thinking and behavior patterns. But Fareed's project simply makes the assumption that shared visual experiences equate to shared spiritual worlds. ”

Despite the courage and even the change, Fareed's experiment may be just a parody of the virtual reality game we all want to experience. Immersive game space allows us to experience a variety of different selves. Amy Bruckman, a professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology, has been working on multiplayer online games since the 1990s, which she calls "Amy Brackman" (identity workshops), where players can explore various social and gender roles. By manipulating the role of the game in a more authentic place, virtual reality is likely to deepen the player's feelings in the game.

In the near future, we are all likely to become a passer-by for personal identity, and to exchange our bodies in the game, to experience different lives in different worlds-perhaps to better appreciate the feelings of others in the process. In his groundbreaking book, Virtual reality, Howard (Howard Rheingold), a virtual reality researcher Eric Glikson Eric Gullichsen, said: "As you spend more of your life and your feelings on cyberspace, You will find that your body on the web is more free than your unchanging body in real life. You will find that all kinds of ego can find the right space to show and play. ”

Fareed actually just touches the surface of virtual reality. Interactive Virtual Entertainment will soon bring us this experience, we as gamers can bring their habits into the virtual world. Players will soon find that they are no longer themselves in the game world.

(Responsible editor: Mengyishan)