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posted by Fnord666 on Saturday April 15 2017, @11:13PM   Printer-friendly
from the tamagotchi dept.

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

The film starts out with a game developer named Victor promoting a new augmented reality game. The game allows players to "create, customize and grow your very own creature." Victor says he believes the future of home entertainment has to be interactive; we don't just want to sit around staring at a screen—we want to be a part of our own entertainment.

Victor explains that the technology works by superimposing computer-generated imagery over real-world objects by projecting a digital light field directly into your eye. He insists the game isn't dangerous to players' vision, but on the contrary, it gives them a sort of "super vision."

After meeting Walter, Victor's virtual pet, we also meet his daughter, Anna, and her virtual pet.

Victor says Strange Beasts gives players a "friend for life." But as we watch him sitting alone in his apartment swiping in mid-air at images only he can see, we start to feel uneasy.

[...] It's debatable and somewhat subjective whether these artificial interactions have made our quality of life better or worse. Studies have shown that people feel more isolated than they used to. Does technology help us connect with others in new and improved ways, or does it give us an excuse not to connect authentically?

-- submitted from IRC


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  • (Score: 2, Insightful) by khallow on Sunday April 16 2017, @04:20AM (2 children)

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Sunday April 16 2017, @04:20AM (#494669) Journal

    But as we watch him sitting alone in his apartment swiping in mid-air at images only he can see, we start to feel uneasy.

    Just like a man blind from birth might feel listening to someone laughing at something they see, we might feel listening only to one end of a phone conversation, an illiterate man might feel about books and such, and innumerate people might feel about subjects involving numbers. What we are ignorant or blind of can indeed make us uncomfortable. And rationalizing it as being bad in some way is quite human.

    But what do we gain by elaborate rationalizations such as the "connect authentically" mythology?

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  • (Score: 2) by ticho on Sunday April 16 2017, @08:57AM (1 child)

    by ticho (89) on Sunday April 16 2017, @08:57AM (#494735) Homepage Journal

    Exactly the author is just jealous of someone else's more advanced Tamagotchi.

    • (Score: 1) by khallow on Sunday April 16 2017, @02:58PM

      by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Sunday April 16 2017, @02:58PM (#494826) Journal
      I think what makes the whole thing even more unsound is that the complaint comes via a medium that is merely an established artificial interaction. Should we be unsettled to see people laugh and cry at mere phantom images projected on a wall or other flat surface?