“What will happen as virtual worlds, video games and simulators become even more realistic, and ultimately photo-realistic, and the avatars we use to represent ourselves become indistinguishable from real humans?”
As we have learned while taking this course, it is evident that the worlds of immersive education and video games are shifting towards photo realistic quality. This will present both great advances in terms of game playing and education, and unfortunately expand the ever increasing issue of "immersive illness" that we've touched upon in this class. I believe that work and school environments will truly benefit from this great technology, a technology that still hasn't been fully tapped into. We will also have to combat the issue of immersive illness which will only worsen with this development.
After learning about Moore's law which states that computing power doubles in complexity every 18 months, the possibility of photo realistic quality in virtual worlds is coming. This will connect people like never before and it will positively impact many of our industries. I can see the possibilities in a field such as distance learning in which we are taking part of right now and how it could make people feel more comfortable about taking distance courses in a more realistic environment. Best of all, video games will be a more enjoyable experience as we realize what we all wanted since we were kids - the best, most realistic, video game experience. Certain genres such as the FPS (first person shooters) like Quake, will truly benefit from this and it will be a joy to play.
The issue of immersive illness will be a serious one once video games become even more realistic. We are already experiencing this now even though it may not be a mainstream issue at the moment. People, as we've learned, become so addicted with video games that it can sadly take over their lives. Things can get tragic such as the article links Professor Walsh provided us, about the couple in South Korea who let their child die of malnourishment after being addicted to an online game. Certain people feel empowered by the games they are playing and use it as a form of escapism from the real world. I think that when photo realistic gaming comes around this issue will only intensify and lead to a greater awareness of this problem.
Overall, I believe that the advancement of immersive worlds will deliver more positive than negative impacts. But just like with many things in life, you have to take the good with the bad. The upcoming advancement in technology is truly exciting and opens up many avenues in improving our lives.
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