A simulated world that can be explored simply by thinking about putting one foot in front of the other might offer new rehabilitation possibilities for disabled patients.
EEG based “Walking” of a TetraPlegic in Virtual Reality
Although, the article mentions this activity can be quite tiring.
VR does seem to have some other medical Applications. In Virtual Pain Relief, they talk about VR as a tool in treating burns victims. They display snowflakes, and cold things with soothing music, and apparently this helps. Using MRI technology, they looked at the brain during treatments to discover that sections of the brain related to pain did seem to indicate that pain was reduced.
We have found that others are Controlling Video games with the mind, as a somewhat more commercial use of this style technology. However, we still seem a long way off from proper Brain Computer Interfaces (BCI) mentioned in cyberpunk fiction from 20 or even 10 years ago though.
So I wonder, will whether over the next five years we’ll see cheaper price BCI gear to allow VR and immersive environments. I am not sure whether this is purely a cost issue (as in head sets still too expensive for the average person), or not proven in their fields (e.g. in Rehabilitation or pain therapy)? Perhaps we just aren’t there yet with the EEG feedback to influence the VR environment.
Sometimes, I think it’s amazing being able to read daily bits from authors blogs (in this case William Gibson).
Gibson has mentioned before that Second Life isn’t what he thought the future would be. He has linked to this amusing YouTube vid about the shortcomings of Second Life.
So, the video below is an illustration of why second life doesn’t really work like our first life.
When I tried Second life, I found it was not that interesting to me. I found the interface annoying and slow. In PS3 Home, Cyberspace and Second Life .. , several authors have mentioned their “is this actually useful or serving a purpose” views on Second Life and other world environments. Asking the question “Will they actually gain much traction? “
When you think about it, World of Warcraft kicks all of them, but maybe that’s because it’s a game and environment created for you. You don’t have to choose your hairstyle, tshirt, build a house, wander around trying to find another soul who isn’t in a bondage club. It seems to me that people are willing to be involved in an environment (game world) more so than building it. I guess this probably works in real life too, I imagine that more people buy an already existing house than design and build. Ditto with clothes, most people buy.
Do worlds which require environments to be built by players might have limited usefulness or lifespan?
