Experience On Demand What Virtual Reality Is How It Works And What It Can Do

“If you want to understand the most immersive new communications medium to come along since cinema… I’d suggest starting with Mr. Bailenson’s [book].” —Wall Street Journal Virtual reality is able to effectively blur the line between reality and illusion, granting us access to any experience imaginable. These experiences, ones that the brain is convinced are real, will soon be available everywhere. In Experience on Demand, Jeremy Bailenson draws upon two decades spent researching the psychological effects of VR to help readers understand its upsides and possible downsides. He offers expert guidelines for interacting with VR, and describes the profound ways this technology can be put to use to hone our performance, help us recover from trauma, improve our learning, and even enhance our empathic and imaginative capacities so that we treat others and ourselves better.

Named one of the best books of 2017 by The Economist, The Wall Street Journal, & Vox The father of virtual reality explains its dazzling possibilities by reflecting on his own lifelong relationship with technology Bridging the gap between tech mania and the experience of being inside the human body, Dawn of the New Everything is a look at what it means to be human at a moment of unprecedented technological possibility. Through a fascinating look back over his life in technology, Jaron Lanier, an interdisciplinary scientist and father of the term “virtual reality,” exposes VR’s ability to illuminate and amplify our understanding of our species, and gives readers a new perspective on how the brain and body connect to the world. An inventive blend of autobiography, science writing, philosophy and advice, this book tells the wild story of his personal and professional life as a scientist, from his childhood in the UFO territory of New Mexico, to the loss of his mother, the founding of the first start-up, and finally becoming a world-renowned technological guru. Understanding virtual reality as being both a scientific and cultural adventure, Lanier demonstrates it to be a humanistic setting for technology. While his previous books offered a more critical view of social media and other manifestations of technology, in this book he argues that virtual reality can actually make our lives richer and fuller.

An In Depth Look at Virtual Reality summarizes research findings relating to virtual reality implementation for pain assessment and treatment, reviewing the literature in pediatric and adult pain care for acute and chronic conditions across several pain populations.The authors provide detailed information about the effect mechanisms of virtual reality for Parkinson's disease, and the virtual reality interventions for rehabilitation of Parkinson's disease in terms of assessment and treatment.Anxiety disorders, such as specific phobia, post-traumatic stress disorder, and social anxiety disorder have garnered the greatest therapeutic attention due to the advantages that applying exposure therapy techniques in a virtual reality environment has over many real-life exposure situations.Later, in order to further improve the intelligence level of a fully mechanized coal mining face and construct a stable and reliable monitoring system of hydraulic support, a monitoring method of hydraulic support in a virtual environment is proposed.In order to further improve the intelligence level of fully mechanized coal mining face and construct a stable and reliable monitoring system of hydraulic support which is of guiding significance to actual production, a monitoring method of hydraulic support in virtual environment is proposed.In the concluding study, using meta-analysis methods and combining the basic elements of teaching system design, a quantitative analysis of 60 quasi-experimental or experimental virtual reality and augmented reality studies is conducted.

Annotation Get an introduction to the technologies, tools, and techniques for programming virtual reality on the latest generation of desktop and mobile VR hardware. With this hands-on guide, you'll learn essential development and production concepts, including UI design, stereo rendering, 3D input, and programming VR applications for native desktop, mobile and the web. You don't have to be a game development wizard or have 3D graphics experience to get started. If you have basic programming skills and some familiarity with mobile development, this book will help you gain a working knowledge of virtual reality through clear and simple examples.

A leading doctor unveils the groundbreaking potential of virtual medicine. Brennan Spiegel has spent years studying the medical power of the mind, and in VRx he reveals a revolutionary new kind of care: virtual medicine. It offers the possibility of treating illnesses without solely relying on intrusive surgeries or addictive opioids. Virtual medicine works by convincing your body that it's somewhere, or something, it isn't. It's affordable, widely available, and has already proved effective against everything from burn injuries to stroke to PTSD. Spiegel shows how a simple VR headset lets a patient with schizophrenia confront the demon in his head, how dementia patients regain function in a life-size virtual town, and how vivid simulations of patients' experiences are making doctors more empathic. VRx is a revelatory account of the connection between our bodies and ourselves. In an age of overmedication and depersonalized care, it offers no less than a new way to heal.

“Enough with speculation about our digital future. Infinite Reality is the straight dope on what is and isn’t happening to us right now, from two of the only scientists working on the boundaries between real life and its virtual extensions.” —Douglas Rushkoff, author of Program or Be Programmed Can our brains recognize where "reality" ends and "virtual" begins? Where will technology lead us in five, fifty, or five hundred years? An unrivaled guide to our digital future that has been cited by the Supreme Court, Infinite Reality is a mind-bending "journey through the virtual universe" (Wall Street Journal). Jim Blascovich and Jeremy Bailenson, two pioneering authorities, explore the profound potential of emerging technologies and reveal how our brains behave in digital worlds. Along the way, Bailenson and Blascovich examine the timeless philosophical questions of the self and "reality" that arise through the digital experience; explain how virtual reality's latest and future forms—including immersive video games and social-networking sites—will soon be seamlessly integrated into our lives; show the many surprising practical applications of virtual reality, from education and medicine to sex and warfare; and probe further-off possibilities like "total personality downloads" that would allow your great-great-grandchildren to have a conversation with "you" a century or more after your death. Equally fascinating, farsighted, and profound, Infinite Reality is an essential guide to our virtual future, where the experience of being human will be deeply transformed.

Understanding Virtual Reality: Interface, Application, and Design, Second Edition, arrives at a time when the technologies behind virtual reality have advanced dramatically in their development and deployment, providing meaningful and productive virtual reality applications. The aim of this book is to help users take advantage of ways they can identify and prepare for the applications of VR in their field, whatever it may be. The included information counters both exaggerated claims for VR, citing dozens of real-world examples. By approaching VR as a communications medium, the authors have created a resource that will remain relevant even as the underlying technologies evolve. You get a history of VR, along with a good look at systems currently in use. However, the focus remains squarely on the application of VR and the many issues that arise in application design and implementation, including hardware requirements, system integration, interaction techniques and usability. Features substantive, illuminating coverage designed for technical or business readers and the classroom Examines VR's constituent technologies, drawn from visualization, representation, graphics, human-computer interaction and other fields Provides (via a companion website) additional case studies, tutorials, instructional materials and a link to an open-source VR programming system Includes updated perception material and new sections on game engines, optical tracking, VR visual interface software and a new glossary with pictures

The renowned Internet commentator and author of How to Fix the Future“expos[es] the greed, egotism and narcissism that fuels the tech world” (Chicago Tribune). The digital revolution has contributed to the world in many positive ways, but we are less aware of the Internet’s deeply negative effects. The Internet Is Not the Answer, by longtime Internet skeptic Andrew Keen, offers a comprehensive look at what the Internet is doing to our lives. The book traces the technological and economic history of the Internet, from its founding in the 1960s through the rise of big data companies to the increasing attempts to monetize almost every human activity. In this sharp, witty narrative, informed by the work of other writers, reporters, and academics, as well as his own research and interviews, Keen shows us the tech world, warts and all. Startling and important, The Internet Is Not the Answer is a big-picture look at what the Internet is doing to our society and an investigation of what we can do to try to make sure the decisions we are making about the reconfiguring of our world do not lead to unpleasant, unforeseen aftershocks. “Andrew Keen has written a very powerful and daring manifesto questioning whether the Internet lives up to its own espoused values. He is not an opponent of Internet culture, he is its conscience, and must be heard.” —Po Bronson, #1 New York Times–bestselling author