LAUREN CREW/PHOTO Peter Rubin, a senior editor at Wired, has been following the field of virtual reality for years, and he promises that with its advances, “things are gonna get weird.”
Virtual reality, commonly referred to as VR, in the future might provide a memorable experience a lot like a recent visit to the Oakland home of writer Peter Rubin.
Crosby, batlike in appearance but a canine, barks sharply, then irresistibly presents his back for a pat. “Fierce” Joseph approaches, not purring, but considering it. Fellow feline Lucy elegantly reclines on a nearby sofa, lifts her head, invites stroking. A coffee aroma perfumes the air.
As one crosses the threshold, books, art, knick-knacks, high ceilings and hushed surroundings instantly transmit peace and personality, one step from the hubbub of urban streets. Rubin, 43, a Wired senior editor whose work, biking and hiking habits leave him slender and pumped with energy, looks directly into a visitor’s eyes and says, “Hi, I’m Peter.” The warm greeting – from animals and host – is unforgettable.
It’s a moment like many described in “Future Presence, How Virtual Reality Is Changing Human Connection, Intimacy, and the Limits of Ordinary Life” (HarperOne, $27.99, 288 pages). Rubin posits in his debut book, a virtual reality tour chronicling his experience becoming an aficionado, that VR is perfectly poised to transform social relationships.
“Telepresence,” shortened by VR experts to “presence,” is the world created when the mind succumbs to virtual or artificial phenomena and the body responds as if it were a real life experience. Long the purview of video games and applied in medicine, science, entertainment, education, real estate and other enterprises, VR in practitioners’ and innovators’ futuristic vision arcs into social interactions having to do with intimacy, empathy, sex, memory and human emotion. Extended to the far-fantastic beyond, VR clothing, including gloves and jackets, will aim for sensory, 4D “add ons” of touch and scent.
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Source: Mercury News