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Post Virtual Reality Sadness

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Re: Post Virtual Reality Sadness

#2
This is very interesting to read. I personally had an experience that increased my anxiety by using the video app Whirligig. It has a cinema mode that puts you in a room, but off to the left there's just a dark, open space. After reading House of Leaves I found myself really creeped out by the dark, open void that existed to my left, and found that feeling followed me for several hours after leaving virtual reality. It seems like in VR it's very important to have control of your surroundings, because a game/app developer could easily cause trauma or scare people who aren't expecting it. The immersion and its effect on your subconscious is really shocking to people who haven't tried it.

Re: Post Virtual Reality Sadness

#3
I don't know that this is VR-specific.

I remember feeling like this after:

- Playing with MS Paint on Windows 3.1 for hours on end until my eyes burned when i was 8.

- Inhaling Lord of the Rings in about a week when i was 10.

- Playing Ocarina of Time for 12 hours a day as a young teen.

- Playing WoW in 100-hour weeks as an undergrad on summer break.

Re: Post Virtual Reality Sadness

#4
Here's a fun thought that is really more of a science-fiction writing prompt: The author talks about his instinct to interact with the real world in the same way he interacted with the VR world. What if, as humans develop more and more realistic and immersive VR systems, it gives their bodies a real evolutionary incentive to develop telekinetic abilities?

Re: Post Virtual Reality Sadness

#5
post #4

Here's a fun thought that is really more of a science-fiction writing prompt: The author talks about his instinct to interact with the real world in the same way he interacted with the VR world. What if, as humans develop more and more realistic and immersive VR systems, it gives their bodies a real evolutionary incentive to develop telekinetic abilities?

There's a Stephen King novel called The Lawnmower Man that's basically this premise exactly. The film version is decent too and kind of fun in a 90s cyberpunk throwback sense too. Stay away from the sequels since as usual they are terrible.

Re: Post Virtual Reality Sadness

#6
I've always been a bit concerned about VR being highly addictive, especially for people who want something to 'escape'. This seems to bolster this concern.

Of course people can and will get addicted to almost anything. VR may be healthier than heavy drinking, heroin, meth, etc.

Re: Post Virtual Reality Sadness

#7
post #4

Here's a fun thought that is really more of a science-fiction writing prompt: The author talks about his instinct to interact with the real world in the same way he interacted with the VR world. What if, as humans develop more and more realistic and immersive VR systems, it gives their bodies a real evolutionary incentive to develop telekinetic abilities?

Or, after they leave the VR experience, the people find they can still do the same things/have the same powers, leaving them questioning if they ever left. Kind of like what happens to Neo in the Matrix.

Re: Post Virtual Reality Sadness

#9
Can't the same be said about other forms of media? You go to the movies to escape, but on the drive home you feel sad that your life isn't as fantastical as the movies. Similar things can be said about the way we use our smartphones.

I'm sure after you have the time to become "normalized" to VR, the real world will seem less depressing. perhaps even refreshing.

Re: Post Virtual Reality Sadness

#10
post #8

VR will probably be THE solution to overpopulation. Slow, but painless.

Probably coupled with some pills to "make you feel more immersed", like those drugs in the Inception movie.

Netflix' CEO seems to already be thinking about this:

http://www.ibtimes.com/simulation-hypothesis-matrix-possible...

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