- Paperback: 416 pages
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster; Reprinted edition edition (Aug 15 1992)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0671778978
- ISBN-13: 978-0671778972
- Product Dimensions: 20.3 x 16.1 x 2.7 cm
- Shipping Weight: 454 g
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,251,276 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
Reingold, coauthor of Cognitive Connection , contends that VR technology will replace artificial intelligence as computing's cybernetic frontier. Current reports from Japanese and French VR labs call up ghosts of the development of the VCR and PC: technologies blazed by American inventiveness but paved to commercial success by countries with coherent industrial policies. Reingold's attempt to impart, in sentences of almost 100 words, a VR vision of his experiences in the "cybernetic sandbox" will mean little to readers unfamiliar with the programming problems of VR. Neologisms like "metaplay" and "teledildontics" (sex in a bed of VR) seem like carny-barker teasers, trivializing potential VR applications in engineering, medicine and education. A more linear approach to the topic might have better fit Reingold's purposes.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Library Journal
The term "virtual reality" describes the computer-generated simulation of reality with physical, tactile, and visual dimensions. This interactive technology is used by science and engineering researchers as well as by the entertainment industry, especially in the form of video games. In this book, Rheingold, editor of Whole Earth Review , reports on his visits to virtual reality labs in industry and universities around the world. He describes the eerie experience of using virtual reality systems that can simulate a walk-through of a building in an architectural graphics program, interviews leading researchers, and speculates on the social and psychological implications of this technology, in which the artificial world overlaps with reality. He also highlights the aims of system designers and gives a good sense of the exploratory nature of this research. Recommended for popular technology and science collections.
- Christopher Jocius, Illinois Mathematics & Science Acad., Aurora
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
- Christopher Jocius, Illinois Mathematics & Science Acad., Aurora
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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First Sentence
At the university of North Carolina, I had a conversion experience akin to the experience that had bonded many of the personal computer pioneers of the 1960s and 1970s-a compelling vision of the future. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
At the university of North Carolina, I had a conversion experience akin to the experience that had bonded many of the personal computer pioneers of the 1960s and 1970s-a compelling vision of the future. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Sacred and Scary Reflections on Neo-Biologicial Civilization,
By Robert D. Steele (Oakton, VA United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Virtual Reality: The Revolutionary Technology of Computer-Generated Artificial Worlds-And How It Promises to Transform Society (Paperback)
First published in 1991, this is a gem that should be one of the first readings of anyone contemplated the sacred and the scary aspects of how humans, machines, and software are being changed by emerging information technologies. While there is a lot of focus on "cool tools" and all the paraphenalia of "virtual reality" qua artificial sensation and perception, the rock bottom foundation of this book can be found in Howard reflections on what it all means for the transformation of humans, business, and society in general.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
5.0 out of 5 stars (2 customer reviews)
5.0 out of 5 stars
A little dated, but still very pertinent,
By ChesserCat - Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Virtual Reality: The Revolutionary Technology of Computer-Generated Artificial Worlds-And How It Promises to Transform Society (Paperback)
Back when Internet access was uncommon, Howard Rheingold was traveling the world, talking to VR researchers. He'd visit a lab, give them a presentation about what he'd seen in other places, then see what they had been developing. Then, he'd go to another lab, frequently in another country, and do the same, incorporating what he'd seen at the last place into his presentation. In this fashion, he was serving as a walking information nexus. Researchers who were largely unaware of other research going on in other places would learn about each other, and make contact with each other, as a result of his travels and his presentations.Hell of a gig if you can get it. Where do I sign up for something like that? And get paid to do it? Many of the technologies he writes about are still unknown, a decade later. They were cool when he wrote about them. They're still cool. They just haven't gone mainstream, for one reason or another. If you buy and read this book today, you won't spend much time thinking "gee, that's old hat." Much of it is still quite eye-opening. The guys in the UK who were using compressed air and hoses, where many people would be trying to use hydraulic actuators (much higher cost), were very interesting. The differences between US and Japanese mindsets, WRT wearing headsets, was very amusing. Creating a device which you can move with your hand, which simulates different textures, was intriguing. Not sure what the practical applications are for that, but it was definitely intriguing. There's a whole realm of VR there which I don't know that anyone is touching. The high-speed motorcycle ride through Brooklyn, without physically moving, would be very fun to try. Even if it was film-based, back before the advent of cheap electronic displays. The fact that the guy even managed to incorporate wind, coming from different directions, and scent makes that one truly ground-breaking. I'd love to see an updated version, with "where are they now" information on more of the projects. I can't imagine what else has been developed in the interim. 5 of 8 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Sacred and Scary Reflections on Neo-Biologicial Civilization,
By Robert D. Steele - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Virtual Reality: The Revolutionary Technology of Computer-Generated Artificial Worlds-And How It Promises to Transform Society (Paperback)
First published in 1991, this is a gem that should be one of the first readings of anyone contemplated the sacred and the scary aspects of how humans, machines, and software are being changed by emerging information technologies. While there is a lot of focus on "cool tools" and all the paraphenalia of "virtual reality" qua artificial sensation and perception, the rock bottom foundation of this book can be found in Howard reflections on what it all means for the transformation of humans, business, and society in general. |
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