If you are given a VR headset that will put you forever in the dream you've always been wanted to go to. Will you?

[JustAGamer:D]

I can include a suit that allows you to feel and touch the environment freely as possible, many times as you would want.
Changing dreams inside the VR is also allowed which you will be able to achieve anything in just a VR, and the bad news is that in a VR you wouldn't see your family forever.
Neither friend nor loved ones, but the VR can also connect to your friend's VR/Family's VR so it would be fun playing with them in the dreams of your choice.
The good news is that you will be put in care by the one who gave the choice, like cleaning and feeding,

 

[Colif]

Red Dwarf did that 34 years ago - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Better_Than_Life_(Red_Dwarf_episode)

 

[Brian Boru]

Red Dwarf did that 34 years ago

Hah, around the same time Ally McBeal had an episode about it

 

[PointnClicker01]

Your question made me think of the movie Ready Player One. I really liked the idea of the movie and honestly, I even could imagine this scenario if our population keeps growing as well as our problems. Maybe not tomorrow… But what will be in another 2000 years from now?

Anyways, back to the question. For me, a VR without being in touch with my friends or family would be a nightmare rather than a dream. Sure, for a day or two, I wouldn‘t mind to have indefinite free space and a literally empty canvas to find out how deep my imagination goes. Though at least after a week I would start to feel empty and think: What‘s all this for if there‘s no one I can enjoy it with?

Instead, I would prefer to live in a VR like the one from the movie. After all, it is a whole universe of different worlds and you would be able too be with your family and friends.

 

[ipman]

This is something I've been thinking about. If I understood 'The eye of Sauron' Mark Zuckerberg, isn't that the concept behind the Metaverse...... and The Matrix.

So yes I can imagine living in a virtual reality at some point in the future. I think as the world gets too over populated(while we are referencing nostalgia, remember the Star Trek episode, The Mark of Gideon). The environment deteriorates and air is too polluted, solar radiation increases.

So I can imagine doing all the usual hero simulation stuff, gaming in open world games. Working and socialising in VR.

Did anyone see a video, during lockdown it appeared to show a worker sitting at home using a console to control a robot stacking shelves. And I used to think if I can use a forklift in WD2, then why not a real one remotely.

But most jobs could be done remotely especially space travel. I doubt real humans could survive the radiation of long distance space travel. Maybe a new evolution of humans will transcend their physical bodies and gamers are like those early fish crawling out on to dry land.

Maybe I can have my consciousness transfered to a gaming charcter.

 

[Alm]

I’m a bit sceptical about a meta verse or a neuralink existence taking off. As someone who has a computer related job I find that wears my eyes out as it is without spending all day every day in VR. With neuralink, I think we’re probably a long way off simulating an alternate reality with brain electrodes. I think at the moment I’d wait and see how it affects people before embracing it myself.

 

[ipman]

I’m a bit sceptical about a meta verse or a neuralink existence taking off. As someone who has a computer related job I find that wears my eyes out as it is without spending all day every day in VR. With neuralink, I think we’re probably a long way off simulating an alternate reality with brain electrodes. I think at the moment I’d wait and see how it affects people before embracing it myself.

I think all of these imaginative ideas are way off but with so much research and development happening anything is possible.
And tech is advancing exponentially and vastly improving our lives.

It seems to me that sci fi fans(and sci fi often predicts or even influences future developments) and gamers are often more imaginative dreamers. Tech billionaires believe they can fulfill those dreams.

I think neuralink has great potential(I'd try it). I hope you're wearing some decent PC specs to protect your eyes. I find mine really enhance my gaming visual experience. My mind tires before my eyes do.

Humans will adapt quickly to new environments even virtual ones. Once we used to hunt wild animals, now we do it virtually in games.

 

[mjs warlord]

my wife heard me read this out to a buddy of mine and she said ...... put the headset on and go find your dopple ganger in our parallel universe then you might just see how bloody awkward you can be when the fit takes you

 

[Zloth]

The good news is that you will be put in care by the one who gave the choice, like cleaning and feeding,

The same person I would be trying to sue if this dream world wasn't really up to snuff?? I think I'll stick with the current setup, thank you!

And yeah, it's an old idea. Easily older than the Matrix movies. Jack Chalker did it in his Wonderland Gambit series in 1995 and mentioned in the introduction that he wasn't the first to do so.

 

[Brian Boru]

I'd be more interested in experiencing more of reality first, before looking into alternative substitutes.

There is so much we're unaware of. Simplest example probably being the electromagnetic spectrum—the chart here shows how little of it we're naturally aware of.

Maybe a new evolution of humans will transcend their physical bodies

There have already been 10-20 species of hominins, depending how you count branches and 'sub-species'. Who knows what hominins will be like after another 10-20 evolutions along our line?

It's tempting to want to experience that in VR or a dream, but I imagine it would be like a monkey presented with a computer.

 

[ipman]

There have already been 10-20 species of hominins, depending how you count branches and 'sub-species'. Who knows what hominins will be like after another 10-20 evolutions along our line?

It's tempting to want to experience that in VR or a dream, but I imagine it would be like a monkey presented with a computer.

I think we already take for granted what computers, AI and gaming can do and be. But if VR and Haptic suits are included and even a nueralink(Tesla are making the last two), I'm not sure the mind will be able to tell the difference between reality and the virtual.

Imagine if a person was paralised but able to experience the world through virtual reality. It would greatly enhance their life.

I enjoy the way gaming stimulates my mind already. Sometimes I just stop in games like RD2 and marvel at the landscape, or the realistic rivers. I live in a city, but I'm not sure the local countryside looks that good.

Neuralink has the potential to take that to the next level, not only could we control a character in a virtual world but combined with a haptic suit the body and mind would receive feedback from that virtual environment.

It's an interesting concept anyway.

Here's a monkey playing Pong, or Mindpong as they call it using two nueralink implants which convinced the FDA that trials could begin on humans.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rXrGH52aoM&ab_channel=CNETHighlights

 

[Brian Boru]

monkey playing Pong, or Mindpong

That is amazing! Hadn't seen that before, thanks

 

[WoodenSaucer]

So if I'm reading the OP correctly, you can only pick one world for the VR, and once you enter that VR world, you can never come out of it. That's your new life from then on. If that's what you're getting at, then hell no I wouldn't do that.

Your question made me think of the movie Ready Player One. I really liked the idea of the movie and honestly, I even could imagine this scenario if our population keeps growing as well as our problems. Maybe not tomorrow… But what will be in another 2000 years from now?

If you like to read, and you liked that movie, then you should read the book. The book is much better than the movie. The movie screwed up the book so bad.

 

[Pifanjr]

I don't trust myself to come up with a dream world I would want to stay in permanently.

 

[Colif]

The movie screwed up the book so bad.

That is common. imagination always beats movies.
Probably more to do with interpretation in a lot of cases.

one of the characters in BTL hates himself so much that

even if he wants to stay, he hates himself so much that his mind has only built up his life so that it can bring him down later. As a result, his company crashes, his new physical body is repossessed, and his attempt to escape leaves him trapped with a pair of violent criminals and transferred into the body of a female prostitute.

He is a hologram, its a long story... read the books. they were better than the shows too.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Better_Than_Life#The_novel

I am not sure this is real so a suit would just confuse me further.

 

[WoodenSaucer]

That is common. imagination always beats movies.
Probably more to do with interpretation in a lot of cases.

Sometimes it's interpretation. But a lot of the time, they completely change things that shouldn't be changed.

 

[ipman]

That is amazing! Hadn't seen that before, thanks

Yes it's amazing how quickly the monkey enticed by a smoothy can adapt. But it obviously enjoys playing the game as well. Actually I'm not sure we are much different. We get our dopermine rewards as well as in game rewards.

Some wag using that vid has changed Pong to the game Fortnite(and it looks convincing, YT)

You mentioned the evolution of 'hominins'. Two things I got from Darwin's masterpiece; life adapts to any environment(so that could be a real environment, a virtual one[ as gamers we enter a new environment with it's own set of rules and learn to survive there], or even a cultural environment)
and secondly; all life on Earth is one entity(I'll leave that with you).

 

[Brian Boru]

life adapts to any environment

Well, the life which survives adapts—all other species go extinct if they can't escape.

 

[Zloth]

So if I'm reading the OP correctly, you can only pick one world for the VR, and once you enter that VR world, you can never come out of it.

Nah, you can change them. That's the second sentence in the OP.

 

[WoodenSaucer]

Nah, you can change them. That's the second sentence in the OP.

Oh, man. I guess I skimmed over it, and I thought it said, "changing dreams is not allowed."

My answer is still no way! I like my real life and loved ones too much to want to do something like that.

 

[ipman]

Well, the life which survives adapts—all other species go extinct if they can't escape.

I'd phrase it, 'the life which adapts quickly, survives'.

I 've been wondering how gaming makes us adapt.
Early humans used their hands to manipulate simple and quite crude tools. But here we are using eye to mind to fingers control to make characters do the most amazing movements on screen.

I enjoy it when using gaming controls becomes completely intuitive and the game become effortless.

 

[Brian Boru]

wondering how gaming makes us adapt

Bits I've gathered:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FktsFcooIG8

10 Real Life Skills You Can Learn Playing Video Games

You can learn a lot from video games that can apply to your lived experiences; here are some skills you can gain.

www.makeuseof.com

8 Life Skills That Video Games Can Teach You

Video games are more than fun! They can teach you life skills that'll help you be more disciplined and successful in life.

www.makeuseof.com

If you want a long list of claimed developmental benefits from gaming, this is probably from those and similar articles:

Spoiler: Long list

Computer assembly
Concentration
Cooperation
Coordination
Creative Exploration
Delayed Gratification
Detection
Empathy
Exploration
Farm work
Focus-Concentration
Forward Thinking
Immersion
Improvisation
Improvising
Interdependence
Investing
Job flow
Leadership
Manufacturing layout
Map Reading
Mental Flexibility
Money-Resource Mgt
Multitasking
Orienteering
Patience
Perseverance
Physical Coordination
Planning
Probability
Process Design
Reading
Reading Ability
Relaxation
Resource management
Saving-Investing
Socialization
Socializing
Strategic choice
Strategic Planning
Strategy
Sympathy-Empathy
Tactical flexibility
Tactics
Task Sequencing
Teamwork
Timing

 

[Pifanjr]

At least it would be better than playing Dark Souls with one of these on:

https://www.pcgamer.com/oculus-co-founder-creates-a-thought-provoking-vr-headset-that-will-literally-kill-you-if-you-die-in-a-game/

 

[WoodenSaucer]

At least it would be better than playing Dark Souls with one of these on:

https://www.pcgamer.com/oculus-co-founder-creates-a-thought-provoking-vr-headset-that-will-literally-kill-you-if-you-die-in-a-game/

 

[PointnClicker01]

At least it would be better than playing Dark Souls with one of these on:

https://www.pcgamer.com/oculus-co-founder-creates-a-thought-provoking-vr-headset-that-will-literally-kill-you-if-you-die-in-a-game/

At this point, it is just a piece of office art, a thought-provoking reminder of unexplored avenues in game design. It is also, as far as I know, the first non-fiction example of a VR device that can actually kill the user. It won’t be the last.

Thanks for the nightmares. Now, I have a real argument to never try out VR.