Conversations about Virtual Reality. Conversation No. 2. Practical about Virtuality

Conversation No. 1 can be updated in memory by clicking on the link

Illusions attract us because they relieve pain and bring pleasure as a substitute.
For this we must accept without complaint when, in conflict with a part of reality, illusions are shattered.
Sigmund Freud

III Use of Virtual Reality

In the first part, we determined the basic properties and characteristics of the actors and the environment of the phenomenon of Virtual Reality, interpreting this phenomenon broader than Wikipedia and other modern sources. We assumed that this is an artificial reality created, not only using technical means, but Illusion in general. At least, this concept was interpreted in the pre-computer era.

Now let's collect and analyze the information, why people resort to its “use”, which doses are safe, not addictive and side effects.

1. Immersion in a comfortable illusion invented by someone

And when did we first encounter the sensations of a non-existent world? Perhaps this is still a fairy tale, which we read in childhood. Since ancient times, feeling the need, at least for a while, to escape from harsh reality, into another: happy, fair and comfortable, people invented fairy tales. Although in fairness, it should be noted that some have more the opposite effect. Plunging into horrors and sufferings, a person breaking away into objective reality understands that life, in comparison with sensed sensations, is not so terrible, but quite tolerable, and he has not settled down badly, but why there - everything was just lucky. And even having matured, people do not cease to need fairy tales. So he is drawn to add the phrase "and some goats use this ...".

Another mission of fairy tales is the opportunity to gain life experience, and the use of imaginary (Virtual) images helps to strengthen impressions and speed up the learning process. And since childhood, we know exactly how to properly manage our desires if we accidentally catch a goldfish, from which we need to build houses so that the wolf passing by could not destroy them. Just now I thought: it’s strange, but for some reason we have been gaining the widest experience of dealing with wolves since childhood. Well, okay, not the point. Jokes are jokes, but there are people whom fairy tales have pushed to bring their happy stories to life, one way or another, tweaking their reality. Moreover, sometimes they did not even realize that it was just a fairy tale, and you should not even try to reproduce it.

Based on the concept presented in the first conversation - a fairy tale model may look like this

2. Recreating the idea of ​​artifacts and events lost over time

The next utility, lying on the surface, is well known to all, and therefore we will only touch it lapidary. It is connected with the fact that everything in life dies: people, traditions, buildings, entire cities and even civilizations. And to help not lose the idea of ​​them completely and irrevocably, perhaps only virtual reality allows. After all, with the help of artificial recreation of such illusions, you can simulate the details, the knowledge of which has already been lost. But here it is important not to overdo it with speculation and gag. And therefore, it can be argued that one of the most used appointments of Virtual Reality is to recreate artifacts and events lost over time.

3. Building an illusion, your ideal world

What else? Most likely, each of you at least once in your life has met people whom they say: "live in their own world." It can be a world of “wizards and fairies”, “puppy love for everyone”, “faith in universal justice”, etc. In this case, we are not talking about phobias such as a “universal conspiracy against me” dictated by some negative life experience, but about a person’s desire to break out of the reality of his being, which does not suit him and which he cannot change. A typical example of existence in such an imaginary world can be emphasized from the film “In love with his own will”, when the heroine argues:

“Look: he’s bored and rides bored. Does he understand that he is the chosen one! the chosen one of the universe! "..." I am never alone. For example, now I’m thinking about some kind of person. After all, now, right now, he is doing something, living. And I thought about him and became related. We are twin brothers of the simultaneity of existence. "

This film was shot back in the pre-computer era. And in our age of overwhelming computer games and social networks, it is like pulling a cover for problems in such an imaginary world. With this, you don’t even have to strain your imagination - you lowered your flabby muscles into a chair at the computer, and now you are already a superhero, throwing monsters out of the bounds of the monitor. Or handsome, casually sharing with others, his countless victories on the love front. All this in white, on a white camel, behind a white piano ... well, handsome, agree. From this we can conclude: that the sought-after role of Virtual Reality in human life is the ability to feel yourself without any special physical efforts by someone else - ideal, or in some other - ideal environment. This phenomenon also manifested itself from ancient times, which Oscar Wilde remarked perfectly in his phrase: “A person feels uncomfortable when he talks about himself. Give him a mask and he will tell you the whole truth. ”

This is the kind of mask that we have been endowed with social networks that have become indispensable "solvers" of such problems. The purpose of using this technique is to hide your physical and sometimes spiritual identity. Pretend to be another person in order to deceive another, and most often - to deceive yourself.



Social networks realize another phenomenon that the American psychiatrist Arnold M. Ludwig successfully considered in his writings - this is social cohesion. With this tool, the world began to change much faster. Recently, it has increasingly become a weapon, when someone is fighting someone. But this topic is somehow scary to even raise. When I wrote in my articleabout the tools for creating a “Social organism”, I was accused of “cooking up” the instructions for creating a sect. But to keep silent about it, I also could not.

4. Simulation of hazardous situations for gaining experience

The idea of ​​the great philosopher Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche helped me to pay attention to the manifestation of another purpose of Virtual Reality. He wrote: "An unfulfilled happens much more important than what happened ...". And as we understand, there has never been and has never been and the only environment for its existence is Virtual Reality. It is it that allows you to simulate situations and look beyond the visible, avoiding the negative consequences in the real world. A person gains experience by learning from his own - "alien" (virtual) mistakes. This saves you from one of the most terrible mistakes in life - they are constantly afraid to make a mistake. And you can, like in the movie "Groundhog Day", try again and again to change the storyline and watch from the inside where this will lead.

Moreover, if we take as a basis the assumption of Alexey Tolstoy that: “Happiness is pleasure without repentance.”, Then the Virtual World is capable of making us happy, eliminating the need to repent from the scheme.

This is a very useful and difficult to replace by other means, the purpose of virtual reality.

5. Virtualization of business processes

And lately, e-government has been very pleased, virtual of course. For example, sites of "public services". What are they fast, polite and helpful - these are "public services". They will be silently listened and will never be interrupted while you scribbling an angry letter to them, sputtering with an overabundance of feelings, experiencing such a personal dislike for those other - real, irresponsible idlers who spoil your life. But why only to you - to everyone around you. I filed a complaint or, for example, an application for a certificate, document, the right to do something, but you never know what else. And you wait ... No, not in the queue in the flea market and the hubbub, but at home on a soft sofa, with a cup of coffee, whom the doctor permits of course. And then it flashed on the computer, and you know - a message arrived, and there is a ready-made answer, clarification, permission, well, in the extreme case, a refusal. But also very polite,

And why is everything so cool? Yes, they simply excluded a person from certain chains of sovereign affairs, replacing them with Virtual Reality, which is not so sensitive, irritable and emotional. Which, over time, will not imagine itself indispensable and will not begin to be rude and demand respect for itself as a person.

6. Virtualization of mutual settlements

Another rapidly gaining manifestation of Virtual Reality is Virtual (or electronic) money. They can be exchanged both according to the rules of the Central Bank, and according to the rules of various private electronic payment systems. But it’s worth noting that one of the main signs of the legitimacy of a currency is the status of legal tender money, which none of the virtual currencies currently has.

The essence of using this virtuality is that a certain organization (issuer) issues an analogue of money, respectively virtual, and sells it to afflicted users, for real money. Those can make the agreed purchases on them, from the agreed sellers, having paid virtual cash with him. The seller, in turn, with the received electronic money turns back to the issuer, which issued them and extinguishes them, converting them into real money. There are also electronic checks and other virtual settlements.

For those who have never worked with this, the question may arise: "Why is it so difficult"? Here the benefit is achieved mainly (but not only) by minimizing the costs of banking system operations. Roughly speaking, they interact with them two times in the scheme. The first time you bought electronic money, and the second - converting them back into real ones. And between these two events, you can make many purchases without using bank transactions. It turns out, so to speak, a duty-free zone - a la duty-free.

And here it is appropriate to recall an example from life, the use of virtual (though not electronic) money in the pre-Internet era. Somehow, in the 90s, there was not enough money for everyone, and they somehow depreciated very quickly and in connection with this, they were more and more lacking. What did the bright heads of that time come up with? When the factory workers traveled to a factory dispensary located in another region, they were given coupons for visiting the bar with alcohol. Why not virtual money? These will not fail. After all, they are: firstly, it can only be used for its intended purpose, the wife will not select for cosmetics, and secondly, they will not lose in purchasing power with inflation.

7. Section Summary

As a result, we managed to highlight the following needs to use Virtual Reality:

1. Reconstructing ideas about artifacts and events lost over time;
2. The acquisition of their own experience, based on other people's ideas, often hypertrophied, to enhance the effect;
3. Creating around you an alternative, more comfortable world that helps you to feel happier than in real life;
4. The possibility of anonymous communication, allowing you to hide your physical identity, and sometimes spiritual. Allows you to pretend to be another person, reduce vulnerability;
5. Modeling of various dangerous situations that could occur in real life, to prevent their negative consequences in the real world and to choose the best solutions to problems;
6. The creation of illusion, deception, in order to mislead people, for some selfish purposes;
7. Substitution of a person in business processes, eliminating the negative manifestations of his weaknesses and vices;
8. Exclusion from mutual settlements of official financial institutions to minimize the cost of their services.