Is the world we live in virtual reality? Second Life: a virtual world the size of our planet

Today, progress has reached truly unprecedented heights, and the new generation is able to use opportunities that people only dreamed of 10-15 years ago. What was mysticism and magic has today become technical progress. One of these moments is virtual reality. Today we will talk about what VR is and how it is used in various fields.

Definition of virtual reality

Virtual reality is created using technical and software virtual world, transmitted to humans through touch, hearing, as well as vision and, in some cases, smell. It is the combination of all these influences on human feelings in total that is called the interactive world

It, VR, is capable of highly accurately simulating the effects of the surrounding virtual reality on a person, but in order to create a truly plausible computer synthesis of reactions and properties within the interactive world, all synthesis processes are calculated, analyzed and displayed as behavior in real time.

The use of virtual reality is multifaceted: in 99 percent of cases, animate and inanimate objects created using such technology have exactly the same properties, behavior and movement as their real prototypes. In this case, the user is able to influence all animate and inanimate objects according to the real laws of physics (if gameplay other laws of physics are not provided for, which happens extremely rarely).

Operating principle

Many people are interested in how exactly technology works. Here are three main components that are used in almost any interaction with a virtual environment:

1. Head. The virtual environment carefully monitors the position of the head using a specialized headset. Thus, the headset moves the picture according to which direction and when the user turns his head - to the side, down or up. This system is officially called six degrees of freedom.
2. Movements. In more expensive modifications of the hardware, the user’s movements are also tracked, and the virtual image will move according to them. We are not talking here about games in which the user simply stands still and interacts with the environment, but about those where he moves in virtual space.
3. Eyes. Another fundamental sensor in reality analyzes the direction in which the eyes are looking. Thanks to this, the game allows the user to immerse themselves in interactive reality more deeply.

The effect of full presence

Just by the term full presence it is clear what exactly we are talking about: the world is virtual reality. This means that the user will feel like he is exactly where the game is and he can interact with it. The user turns his head - the character also turns his head, the person walks in his room - the player moves in interactive reality. There is still debate as to whether it is possible

The Leap – finger and hand tracking

The effect of complete presence is achieved through The Leap device. This is a device that uses complex system tracking every movement is still a part of very expensive and TOP helmets. However, the operating algorithm is quite simple, and it is present in a slightly modified form in another device, namely a helmet HTC Vive.

Both the controller and the headset in HTC Vive are equipped with many photodiodes - small devices that convert light energy into electrical energy.

Important point! In general, people deal with photodiodes and their work every day. As an example, this is a photodiode responsible for lighting a smartphone. The photodiode determines exactly how much light falls on it and, based on this data, adjusts the brightness level

The same principle of full presence is used in the helmet. A standard VR helmet comes with two stations that fire a pair of beams at time intervals - a horizontal and a vertical beam. They permeate the room and get to the photodiodes on the helmet and controller device. After this, the photodiodes begin their work, and in a few seconds information data is exchanged, during which the sensors transmit the position of the controllers and the helmet.

This is the algorithm for creating complete presence.

What types of VR are there?

Officially, there are now three types of virtual reality:

1. Simulation and computer modeling.
2. Imaginary activity.
3. Cyberspace and hardware.

VR helmets

The main difference between these three gadgets lies only in the manufacturing companies. Otherwise they are similar. All three helmets are portable and provide an immersive gaming experience.

Pros and cons of virtual reality

Pros:

1. The opportunity to fully immerse yourself in an interactive dimension.
2. Getting new emotions.
3. Prevention of stress.
4. Creation of electronic information and training resources.
5. Holding conferences.
6. Creation of cultural heritage objects.
7. Ability to visualize various objects and physical phenomena.
8. An opportunity for everyone to take their entertainment to the next level.

Cons:

The disadvantages include the following:

1. Addiction.
2. Another obvious disadvantage: virtual reality and its psychological impact on a person - it is not always positive, since there is a risk of being too immersed in the virtual world, which sometimes leads to problems in social and other areas of life.
3. High cost of devices.

Application of virtual reality

VR can be used in areas such as:

1. Education. Today, interactive reality makes it possible to simulate a training environment in those areas and for those activities for which it is necessary and important preliminary preparation. As an example, this could be operations, equipment management and other areas.
2. Science. VR makes it possible to significantly accelerate research in both the atomic and molecular worlds. In the world of computer reality, a person is able to manipulate even atoms as if it were a construction set.
3. Medicine. As noted, with the help of VR, you can train and educate medical specialists: perform operations, study equipment, and improve professional skills.
4. Architecture and design. What could be better than showing the customer a model of a new house or any other construction project using such reality? It is this that allows you to create these objects in virtual space, in full size, for demonstration, whereas previously manual layouts and imagination were used. This applies not only to construction projects, but also to equipment.
5. Entertainment. VR is incredibly popular in the gaming environment. Moreover, both games and cultural events and tourism are in demand.

VR – is it harmful or not?

So far, it can be noted that no global research has been conducted in this area, but the first conclusions can already be drawn. Since VR is still in its infancy (and it really is), many may experience discomfort when using this technology for a long time. In particular, the person will feel dizzy and nauseous.

So far there is no evidence that . There is undoubtedly a negative effect, but it is not so great as to sound the alarm. Therefore, it is still unknown whether virtual reality is harmful or beneficial.

VR – what does the future hold?

Today, virtual reality is not fully developed, so unpleasant sensations may appear. In the future, many devices, copies and analogues will appear that will not have a negative effect on the human body and psyche.

Also, VR devices will be able to solve problems with the consumption of information data, and sessions will become as standard and commonplace as regular games on a computer or consoles these days.

Conclusion

Virtual reality is still a bottomless abyss for research and improvement of work algorithms. Today, technology is advancing very quickly, so we can say with confidence that in the near future the market price of the kit will be affordable for a person with average income.

Illustration copyright Getty Images Image caption Perhaps Keanu Reeves lives in the matrix and off the set

Some scientists believe that our Universe is a giant computer simulation. Should we be worried about this?

Are we real? What about me personally?

Previously, only philosophers asked such questions. Scientists tried to understand what our world is like and explain its laws.

But appeared in lately Considerations regarding the structure of the Universe raise existential questions for science.

Some physicists, cosmologists and artificial intelligence experts suspect that we are all living inside a giant computer simulation, mistaking the virtual world for reality.

This idea contradicts our feelings: after all, the world is too realistic to be a simulation. The heaviness of the cup in your hand, the aroma of coffee poured into it, the sounds around us - how can you fake such a wealth of experiences?

But think about the progress made in computer and information technology over the past few decades.

Today's video games are populated by characters who interact realistically with the player, and virtual reality simulators sometimes make it indistinguishable from the world outside the window.

And this is quite enough to make a person paranoid.

In the science fiction film "The Matrix" this idea is formulated extremely clearly. People there are imprisoned in a virtual world, which they unconditionally perceive as real.

However, The Matrix is ​​not the first film to explore the phenomenon of an artificial universe. Just remember David Cronenberg's Videodrome (1982) or Terry Gilliam's Brazil (1985).

All these dystopias raise two questions: how do we know that we live in a virtual world, and is it really that important?

The idea that we live inside a simulation has influential supporters.

As American entrepreneur Elon Musk said in June 2016, the probability of this is “a billion to one.”

And Google's chief artificial intelligence officer, Raymond Kurzweil, suggests that perhaps "our entire universe is a science experiment by a high school student from another universe."

Some physicists are also ready to consider this possibility. In April 2016, scientists took part in a discussion on this topic at the American Museum of Natural History in New York.

None of these people claimed that in reality we are floating naked in a sticky liquid, covered in wires, like the characters in The Matrix.

But there are at least two possible scenarios according to which the Universe around us could be artificial.

Cosmologist Alan Guth of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology suggests that the Universe may be real, but at the same time it is a laboratory experiment. According to his hypothesis, our world was created by some kind of superintelligence - just as biologists grow colonies of microorganisms.

In principle, there is nothing that rules out the possibility of the universe being created in an artificial Big Bang, Guth says.

The universe in which such an experiment was carried out would remain intact and unharmed. The new world would have formed in a separate space-time bubble, which would have quickly separated from the mother universe and lost contact with it.

This scenario does not affect our lives in any way. Even if the Universe originated in a “test tube” of supermind, it is physically as real as if it had formed naturally.

But there is a second scenario that attracts particular interest because it undermines the very foundations of our understanding of reality.

Musk and other proponents of this hypothesis argue that we are entirely simulated beings - just streams of information in some kind of giant computer, like characters in a video game.

Even our brain is a simulation, reacting to artificial stimuli.

In this scenario, there is no matrix from which one could escape: our whole life is a matrix, outside of which existence is simply impossible.

But why should we believe such a convoluted version of our own existence?

The answer is very simple: humanity is already capable of simulating reality, and with further development technology will ultimately be able to create a perfect simulation, inhabited by intelligent agent beings who would perceive it as an absolutely real world.

We create computer simulations not only for games, but also for research purposes. Scientists are simulating various interaction situations at a variety of levels - from subatomic particles to human communities, galaxies and even universes.

Thus, computer simulations of complex animal behavior help us understand how packs and swarms are formed. Through simulations, we study the principles of formation of planets, stars and galaxies.

We can also simulate human societies using relatively simple agents that make choices based on certain rules.

Such programs simulate cooperation between people, urban development, the functioning of traffic and the state economy, as well as many other processes.

As you grow computing power Computer simulations are becoming increasingly complex. IN individual programs, imitating human behavior, elements of thinking are already built in - still primitive.

Researchers believe that in the not too distant future, virtual agents will be able to make decisions based not on elementary “if...then” logic, but on simplified models of human consciousness.

Who can guarantee that we will not soon witness the creation of virtual beings endowed with consciousness? Advances in understanding the principles of brain function, as well as the vast computing resources that the development of quantum technology promises computer equipment, are steadily approaching this moment.

If we ever reach this level of technological development, we will be running a huge number of simulations simultaneously, the number of which will greatly exceed our single “real” world.

Is it really impossible, then, that some intelligent civilization somewhere in the Universe has already reached this stage?

And if so, it would be logical to assume that we live inside such a simulation, and not in a world in which virtual realities are created - after all, the probability of this is statistically much higher.

Philosopher Nick Bostrom of the University of Oxford has broken down this scenario into three possible options:

(1) civilizations self-destruct without reaching the level of development at which the creation of such simulations is possible;

(2) civilizations that have reached this level, for some reason, refuse to create such simulations;

(3) we are inside such a simulation.

The question is which of these options seems most likely.

American astrophysicist George Smoot, a Nobel laureate in physics, argues that there is no compelling reason to believe in the first two options.

There is no doubt that humanity persistently creates problems for itself - just mention global warming, growing stockpiles of nuclear weapons and the threat of mass extinction of species. But these problems will not necessarily lead to the destruction of our civilization.

Moreover, there is no reason why it would be fundamentally impossible to create a very realistic simulation in which the characters would believe that they live in the real world and are free in their actions.

And given how common Earth-like planets are in the Universe (one of which, recently discovered, is located relatively close to Earth), it would be the height of arrogance to assume that humanity is the most advanced civilization, Smoot notes.

How about option number two? Theoretically, humanity could refrain from conducting such simulations for ethical reasons - for example, considering it inhumane to artificially create creatures convinced that their world is real.

But that also seems unlikely, Smoot says. After all, one of the main reasons we run simulations ourselves is to learn more about our own reality. This can help us make the world a better place and possibly save lives.

So there will always be sufficient ethical justification for conducting such experiments.

Looks like we're left with only one option: We're probably inside a simulation.

But all this is nothing more than speculation. Can they find convincing evidence?

Many researchers believe that everything depends on the quality of the simulation. The most logical thing would be to try to find errors in the program - like those that betrayed the artificial nature of the “real world” in the film “The Matrix”. For example, we might discover contradictions in physical laws.

Or, as the late Marvin Minsky, who pioneered the creation of artificial intelligence, suggested, there may be inherent rounding errors in approximate calculations.

For example, in the case when an event has several possible outcomes, the sum of the probabilities of their occurrence should be one. If this is not true, we can say that something is missing here.

However, according to some scientists, there are already enough reasons to think that we are inside a simulation. For example, our Universe looks like it was constructed artificially.

The values ​​of the fundamental physical constants are suspiciously ideal for the emergence of life in the Universe - it may seem that they were set deliberately.

Even small changes in these values ​​would cause atoms to become unstable or prevent star formation.

Cosmology still cannot convincingly explain this phenomenon. But one possible explanation has to do with the term "multiverse."

What if there are many universes, created by events similar to the Big Bang, but governed by different physical laws?

By chance, some of these universes are ideal for the origin of life, and if we were not lucky enough to end up in one of them, then we would not ask questions about the universe, because we simply would not exist.

However, the idea of ​​the existence of parallel universes is highly speculative. So there remains at least a theoretical possibility that our Universe is actually a simulation, the parameters of which were specifically set by the creators to obtain the results they are interested in - the emergence of stars, galaxies and living beings.

Although this possibility cannot be ruled out, such theorizing leads us in circles.

In the end, one can just as well assume that the parameters of the “real” Universe in which our creators live were artificially set by someone. In this case, accepting the postulate that we are inside a simulation does not explain the mystery of the values ​​of constant physical quantities.

Some experts point to very strange discoveries made by modern physics as evidence that something is wrong with the Universe.

Quantum mechanics, a branch of physics that operates with extremely small quantities, gave us especially many such discoveries. Thus, it turns out that both matter and energy have a granular structure.

Moreover, the “resolution” at which we can observe the Universe has its minimum limit: if you try to observe smaller objects, they simply will not look “clear” enough.

According to Smoot, these strange features of quantum physics could be signs that we are living inside a simulation - just as when trying to look at an image on a screen at very close range, it breaks up into individual pixels.

But this is a very rough analogy. Scientists are gradually coming to the conclusion that the “graininess” of the Universe at the quantum level may be a consequence of more fundamental laws that determine the limits of knowable reality.

Another argument in favor of the virtuality of our world states that the Universe, as it seems to a number of scientists, is described by mathematical equations.

Cosmologist Max Tegmark from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology emphasizes that this is exactly the result that would be expected if the laws of physics were based on a computational algorithm.

However, this argument threatens to lead us into a vicious circle of reasoning.

To begin with, if some superintelligence decides to simulate its own “real” world, it is logical to assume that the physical principles at the basis of such a simulation will reflect those that operate in its own universe - after all, that is what we do.

In this case, the true explanation of the mathematical nature of our world would not be that it is a simulation, but that the “real” world of our creators is structured in exactly the same way.

Moreover, the simulation does not have to be based on mathematical rules. You can make it function in a random, chaotic way.

Whether this would lead to the origin of life in the virtual universe is unknown, but the point is that one cannot draw conclusions about the degree of “reality” of the Universe based on its supposedly mathematical nature.

However, according to physicist James Gates of the University of Maryland, there is a more compelling reason to believe that a computer simulation is responsible for the laws of physics.

Gates studies matter at the level of quarks, the subatomic particles that make up the protons and neutrons in atomic nuclei. According to him, quarks obey rules that are somewhat reminiscent of computer codes, correcting errors in data processing.

Is this possible?

Maybe so. But it is possible that such an interpretation of physical laws is only the most recent example of how humanity, from time immemorial, has interpreted the world around us, based on knowledge of the latest achievements of technological progress.

In the era of Newton's classical mechanics, the Universe was represented as a clockwork mechanism. And later, at the dawn of the computer era, DNA was seen as a kind of storage digital code with the function of storing and reading information.

Perhaps we simply extrapolate our current technological fads to the laws of physics every time.

It appears to be very difficult, if not impossible, to find conclusive evidence that we are inside a simulation.

If only in program code If many mistakes are not made, it will not be easy to create a test whose results could not be found in any other, more rational explanation.

Even if our world is a simulation, says Smoot, we may never find unambiguous confirmation of this - simply due to the fact that such a task is beyond the power of our minds.

After all, one of the goals of a simulation is to create characters that function within established rules, rather than deliberately breaking them.

However, there is a more serious reason why we may not need to worry too much about the fact that we are just lines of code.

Some physicists believe that this is what the real world is anyway.

The terminology used to describe quantum physics is increasingly beginning to resemble a dictionary in computer science and computer science.

Some physicists suspect that at a fundamental level, nature may not be pure mathematics, but pure information: bits, like computer ones and zeros.

Leading theoretical physicist John Wheeler gave this insight the name "It from Bit."

According to this hypothesis, everything that happens at the level of interactions of fundamental particles and above is a kind of computational process.

“The universe can be thought of as a giant quantum computer,” says Seth Lloyd, a fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “If you look at the ‘inner workings’ of the universe, that is, the structure of matter on the smallest possible scale, we see [quantum] bits participating in local digital operations."

Thus, if reality is just information, then it doesn't matter whether we are inside a simulation or not: the answer to this question does not make us more or less "real."

Be that as it may, we simply cannot be anything other than information.

Does it matter of fundamental importance to us whether this information was programmed by nature or some kind of superintelligence? It’s unlikely - well, except in the second case, our creators are theoretically capable of interfering with the course of the simulation and even stopping it altogether.

But what can we do to avoid this?

Of course, this is a joke. Surely any of us will have stronger motives for living life to the fullest than the fear that we will otherwise be “erased.”

But the very formulation of the question indicates certain flaws in the logic of reasoning about the reality of the Universe.

The idea that some higher-order experimenters will eventually get tired of messing around with us and decide to run some other simulation smacks too much of anthropomorphism.

Like Kurzweil's comment about the school experiment, it implies that our creators are just moody teenagers having fun with video game consoles.

The discussion of Bostrom's three variants suffers from similar solipsism. This is nothing more than an attempt to describe the Universe in terms of the achievements of mankind in the 21st century: “We are developing computer games. I bet superintelligent beings would do this too, only their games would be much cooler!"

Of course, any attempt to imagine how superintelligent beings might act will inevitably lead to extrapolation of our own experience. But this does not negate the unscientific nature of this approach.

It is probably no coincidence that many proponents of the idea of ​​“all-encompassing simulation” admit that they read science fiction voraciously in their youth.

It is possible that the choice of reading predetermined their adult interest in the problems of extraterrestrial intelligence, but it now encourages them to put their thoughts into forms familiar to the genre.

They seem to be looking at space through the window of the starship Enterprise [from the American television series Star Trek - Approx. translator].

Harvard physicist Lisa Randell can't understand the enthusiasm with which some of her colleagues are toying with the idea of ​​reality as a total simulation. For her, this does not change anything in her approach to perceiving and exploring the world.

According to Randell, everything depends on our choice: what exactly is meant by so-called reality.

It is unlikely that Elon Musk spends his days thinking about the fact that the people around him, his family and friends, are just constructs consisting of streams of data and projected into his consciousness.

Partly, he doesn’t do this because it simply won’t work to constantly think in this way about the world around him.

But what is much more important is what we all know deep down: the only definition of reality worth our attention is our immediate sensations and experiences, and not the hypothetical world hidden “behind the scenes.”

However, there is nothing new in the interest in what may actually lie behind the world accessible to us in sensations. Philosophers have been asking similar questions for centuries.

Plato also believed that what we accept as reality can only be shadows projected onto the wall of a cave.

According to Immanuel Kant, although a certain “thing in itself” underlying the images we perceive may exist, we cannot know it.

Rene Descartes' famous phrase “I think, therefore I am” means that the ability to think is the only clear criterion of existence.

The concept of "the world as a simulation" puts this old philosophical problem in a modern, high-tech package, and that's no big deal.

Like many other paradoxes in philosophy, it forces us to take a critical look at some long-held beliefs.

But until we can convincingly prove that the deliberate separation of "reality" from the experience we experience of it leads to obvious differences in our behavior or in the phenomena we observe, our understanding of reality will not change in any significant way.

At the beginning of the 18th century, the English philosopher George Berkeley argued that the world is an illusion. To which his critic, writer Samuel Johnson, exclaimed: “Here is my refutation!” - and kicked a stone.

Johnson didn't actually refute Berkeley with this. But his response to such allegations was perhaps the most correct one possible.

Today the world high technology and virtual reality is so closely intertwined with our lives that there are increasingly suggestions that the planet on which we live is not reality, but part of a huge simulation. And they talk about this not only ordinary people, but also famous physicists and cosmologists.

Is it worth thinking seriously about the question that we live in virtual reality? Or do the assumptions belong to the category of fiction?

Are you actually real? What about me?

Until recently, these questions were purely philosophical. Many scientists have set themselves the goal of understanding the structure of the world and the role of man in it. Now these requests have acquired a different meaning. Scientists of many directions suggest that our universe is a virtual reality, large-scale computer model. The person in it is only a small part of the matrix. This may mean that we actually live in an imaginary world, truly believing that it is real.

Naturally, our intuition does not want to agree with this. How to believe in a false impression if we feel a mug of hot tea in our hand, smell a fragrant drink, hear sounds hovering around us. Is it possible to reproduce such sensations?

But here it is worth remembering the leap that has taken place in the field of computer technology over the past 10-15 years. Computer games have become so real that independent game heroes are able to reproduce any of our movements and actions. And, plunging into this world, we involuntarily become convinced of the possible unreality of what is happening in life.

Life or cinema?

For the first time, the story of people living in a fictional reality was presented in a blockbuster of Hollywood origin. The story of people limited by the framework of an invented reality looks so convincing that the heroes, and the audience, perceive it as reality.

Afterwards, other films appeared, trying to answer the questions of what is truth and what is fiction. Which half of humanity is right: those who consider the Universe to be fiction, or those who are convinced that we are all part of a big game?

For example, the famous computer technology businessman Elon Musk believes that the ratio of the fictional world to reality is approximately 1,000,000:1.

And the no less famous Ray Kurzweil, a researcher of artificial intelligence, makes the assumption that the Universe is nothing more than a large scientific experiment conducted by one of the young scientists of another Universe.

An interesting fact is that some scientists agree with this possibility. This question even became the subject of discussion at one of the meetings at the New York Museum of Natural History.

Is there any evidence?

The theory of virtual reality has at least two pieces of evidence in favor of its existence:

1. Alan Guth, a famous scientist and cosmologist, puts forward the version that our planet may be real, but at the same time it is something like a laboratory experiment. He believes that the creation of our world is similar to the actions of biologists to grow microorganisms. And such experimentation is carried out by someone with superintelligence. He does not exclude the possibility of the world emerging as a result of a large-scale explosion caused artificially. At the same time, the planet, the progenitor of the new world, was not completely destroyed. Just reproduced new template space-time reference. After which it became possible to pinch it off from the original source of the Universe and break all contacts with it. Such a plot could have different options development. For example, new world could have originated in some equivalent of a test tube.

1. There is one more piece of evidence that can destroy a person’s ideas about reality. The meaning of the theory contains the assumption that we are not real people, but fictitious creatures modeled by someone. This could mean that humanity is just a small line in a huge computer program. And she manipulates us like heroes in a game.

Should we believe in the virtual world?

Is it worth believing that our world is virtual reality? This is an abstract question. But it has arguments in its favor.

After all, we do modeling. We create fictional models not only for the sake of the game, but also for scientific research. Many scientists create models of the world at different levels. These include models of the subatomic world and the creation of huge societies and galaxies.

We design animal models. By using computer modeling an opportunity has arisen to learn about their development and habits. Other stimulants give us a chance to understand the issue of the formation of planets, galaxies, and stars.

It is possible to reproduce humanity with the help of simple agents capable of making their own choices, guided by clear instructions. This gives us the opportunity to understand how cooperation between a person and a company occurs, how cities develop, traffic rules and economic laws work.

Every day the complexity of the models increases. Scientists are making more and more conclusions about the functioning of our brain. There is a significant amount of quantum computing going on. All this suggests that perhaps one day we will be able to create a virtual character with clear signs consciousness. This will allow you to create large number models that will work for the benefit of humans. Gradually, there may be much more of them than the real inhabitants of our planet.

If humanity is slowly moving towards creating a large-scale virtual reality around itself, what prevents us from assuming that another mind in the universe has already done this, and we are part of this computer reality?

And yet about reality

Of course, cosmologist Kurzweil's statement about a young genius who created our planet using programming can be considered a joke. But many of the claims of theories about the virtual world are based on the fact that we live in the 21st century and are able to create computer games with the effect of reality, so why can’t someone else do the same?

There is no doubt that the majority of supporters of scale modeling are big fans of films with a science-fiction plot. But somewhere in the hidden corners of the soul, each of us knows that reality is not a fictional world, but what we experience.

Today humanity lives in a world of high technology, but philosophers have been struggling with the answer to the question of reality for centuries. Plato also doubted whether reality was not just a shadow that falls on the walls of a cave.

Immanuel Kant was convinced that the world is nothing more than a thing that is the basis of what we see.

René Descartes once said, “I think, therefore I am.” With this phrase, he tried to prove that the ability to act meaningfully is the only essential criterion of existence that a person can fix. This philosophical idea became the basis for the idea that our world is just a simulated game.

Don't be afraid of new technologies and the emergence of hypotheses. These are just some of the philosophical mysteries that force us to look differently at our beliefs and assumptions. But today there is no absolute evidence that our Universe is virtual. And therefore no newest ideas are not capable of radically changing our views on reality.

And as proof of its existence, one can cite the example of the action of Samuel Johnson, an English writer. In 1700, in response to the philosopher George Berkeley's assertion that the world is just a deception, an illusion, he kicked a stone and said: “I refute it like this!

Already for a long time takes place in modern world. But it is still not clear to everyone. In addition, it is difficult to imagine a person who has not at least once mentioned virtuality. So, given word has already become part of the life of society. What is virtual? We will have to talk about this further.

Concept

In general, many people like to fantasize. Inventing something that doesn't really exist. Basically, a virtual is a non-existent "object" in real life. Typically this term is applied to computers and computer related activities. In this case, its meaning is slightly different.

Which one exactly? Virtual is something that does not exist in reality, but generally exists. Something that replaces the analogue of real life. For example, there is virtual communication. Essentially, this is the same dialogue, but in the form of correspondence or communication via the Internet. So, this term means something indirectly existing in the world, and not a simple invention that “came into the head” of a person.

Reality

Recently the term “virtual reality” has appeared in the world. What is this anyway? As you might guess, this is an artificial, computer “life”. That is, a world that was created through technology. It doesn't actually exist, but users have the opportunity to use it.

Consoles have become especially popular and they create in a person the illusion of complete presence in a fictional world. computer world. This concept is most often applied to games. For them, virtual reality is a part of life. Don't confuse fiction with virtuality. And then you don't have to worry this concept. Otherwise, virtual reality can “drag” you into its world, where the user has a lot of opportunities that are not available in reality. And this addiction will have to be treated.

About 10 years ago, the idea came up to create a game in which all interaction between people would take place in the virtual world. The new game is called Second Life. It was created by Linden Lab, a company founded by Philip Rosedale. The game gained popularity as people became interested in trying it out for themselves. new uniform social interaction. However, her rapid success was short-lived. In 2010, the population of the virtual world had decreased significantly and was about half its previous size (previously it was 88,000 active users).

Real and virtual

But the high-tech sphere does not stand still, and the virtual space increasingly resembles the real one, and the effect of presence arises. In the wake of this trend, another Rosedale company, High Fidelity, began developing a new game based on Second Life. But how does virtual reality affect the development of our society? Here's what Rosedale himself had to say about it:

“If you take a closer look at the game Second Life, you will understand that it is already influencing the development of society. The game shows us that our desire for mutually beneficial interaction in business has no boundaries. I am also convinced that the virtual world can help resolve some conflicts and prevent wars in the real world. There are countless examples of how people of different cultures and backgrounds who do not find a common language in ordinary life, successfully interact in virtual reality. This interaction helps them get closer in reality. I think this is a really great achievement. Virtual reality helps to erase differences between people.”

In addition, virtual worlds undergo significant changes as they grow in size. A city with a population of 1,000 users is very different from a virtual metropolis with a million people. Virtual worlds are growing larger and more detailed, opening up more and more opportunities for users to interact. This process is inevitable. And this means that we cannot even imagine how different these worlds will be from those already created.

For example, if you connect using broadband internet all the computers in the world, then we will get virtual reality the size of Globe. Any of us will be able to fly around it entirely, climb into some unexplored cave in Siberia and carve our name on its stone wall. After 10 years, the user can return to the same cave and find that his inscription is still there.

Will we ever be able to create a virtual Galaxy?

Someday in the future we will perceive the Earth as something very small - as the place where it all began. But this place will no longer have anything to do with our evolution, invention, exploration and communication. Our entire existence will be contained in a computer. In other words, the computer will contain a virtual world that will be so detailed that it will not be limited to just copying the Earth.

Virtual reality can become a reflection of the human brain and everything that happens in our body, down to the smallest atom. Our life will be perceived as exclusively virtual. The real world will become for us something like a museum, to which it will be pleasant to return again and again to enjoy the masterpieces of the past.

How will we be able to connect to our virtual worlds?

Surprisingly, the MacBook actually achieved what... Apple called "retina". This means that the image contains so many pixels that our eyes can no longer distinguish them. They are too small for visual perception - our brain has developed to such a state that it needs exactly this amount of information and no more.

In 5-6 years new version Oculus Rift(virtual reality glasses) will display images with a fully immersive effect. The picture will be so real that it will be no different from the images of the real world. But this will only be a transitional period, since in the future we will wear small glasses that can show us an entire movie if we want it.

With the help of these glasses, we will be able to see our friends sitting at the same table with us, although they will be in completely different places. These glasses can replace desktop computers. We will no longer need monitor screens as we will be surrounded by them. An impressive prospect, isn't it?

How to make avatars in the virtual world more like real people?

There are several ways to do this. This is what most game developers work on. If you look into the laboratory of game creators, you might be very surprised. The developers study in detail the physics of human movements to make the avatar’s movements more similar to real ones.

The next step for developers will be to create a special device that will be placed on a person’s head and track the direction of gaze, as well as the movements of the eyeballs. We all know that eye contact and meaningful glances are very important things.

Another area of ​​research is the study of facial expressions and gestures. There have already been several experiments aimed at capturing how emotions are displayed on our faces.

How will the possibility of existing in virtual worlds affect the course of evolution?

In this respect, virtual worlds are related to artificial intelligence. We live in a time when the idea of ​​prototyping our way of thinking using a computer is becoming more and more achievable. This process will lead to significant changes.

The fact is that computers are becoming more and more advanced, but our brains are not. Therefore, after the creation of artificial intelligence, computers will become smarter than us. In the process of these changes, humanity may fade into the background, so to speak. In the future, people will be faced with a choice: to continue their existence in the real world or to delve into a virtual reality populated by characters who are different from us and intellectually superior to us.

Humanity will have two branches of evolution: in the real world and in the virtual. This will be very interesting to watch.