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Escapism And Virtual Reality
Escapism and Virtual Reality Escapism and Virtual Reality ABSTRACT The use of computers in society provides obvious benefits and some drawbacks. `Virtual Reality', a new method of interacting with any computer, is presented and its advantages and disadvantages are considered. The human aspect of computing and computers as a form of escapism are developed, with especial reference to possible future technological developments. The consequences of a weakening of the sense of reality based upon the physical world are also considered. Finally, some ways to reduce the unpleasant aspects of this potential dislocation are examined. A glossary of computing terms is also included. Computers as Machines The progression of the machine into all aspects of human life has continued unabated since the medieval watchmakers of Europe and the Renaissance study of science that followed Clocks . Whilst this change has been exceedingly rapid from a historical perspective, it can nevertheless be divided into distinct periods, though rather arbitrarily, by some criteria such as how people travelled or how information was transferred over long distances. However these periods are defined, their lengths have become increasingly shorter, with each new technological breakthrough now taking less than ten years to become accepted (recent examples include facsimile machines, video recorders and microwave ovens). One of the most recent, and hence most rapidly absorbed periods, has been that of the computer. The Age of Computing began with Charles Babbage in the late 19th century Babbage , grew in the calculating machines between the wars EarlyIBM , continued during the cryptanalysis efforts of World War II Turing,Bletchley and finally blossomed in the late 1970's with mass market applications in the developed countries (e.g. JapanSord ). Computers have gone through several `generations' of development in the last fifty years and their rate of change fits neatly to exponential curves Graphs , suggesting that the length of each generation will become shorter and shorter, decreasing until some unforeseen limit is reached. This pattern agrees with the more general decrease of length between other technological periods. The great strength of computers whether viewed as complex machines, or more abstractly as merely another type of tool, lies in their enormous flexibility. This flexibility is designed into a computer from the moment of its conception and accounts for much of the remarkable complexity that is inherent in each design. For this very reason, the uses of computers are now too many to ever consider listing exhaustively and so only a representative selection are considered below. Computers are now used to control any other machine that is subject to a varying environment, (e.g. washing machines, electric drills and car engines). Artificial environments such as hotels, offices and homes are maintained in pre- determined states of comfort by computers in the thermostats and lighting circuits. Within a high street shop or major business, every financial or stockkeeping transaction will be recorded and acknowledged using some form of computer. The small number of applications suggested above are so common to our experiences in developed countries that we rarely consider the element which permits them to function as a computer. The word `microprocessor' is used to refer to a `stand-alone' computer that operates within these sorts of applications. Microprocessors are chips at the heart of every computer, but without the ability to modify the way they are configured, only a tiny proportion of their flexibility is actually used. The word `computer' is now defined as machines with a microprocessor, a keyboard and a visual display unit (VDU), which permit modification by the user of the way that the microprocessor is used. Computers in this sense are used to handle more complex information than that with which microprocessors deal, for example, text, pictures and large amounts of information in databases. They are almost... This is ONLY a preview of the article. If you would like to view the entire document, you must subscribe to Academic Library. Please register below now!
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