Showing posts with label mixed reality. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mixed reality. Show all posts

09 February 2007

La Vida Es Sueño

For those who dismiss Second Life as "just a game" here's a thought:

The more interesting question is why people keep repeating "only a game" so much. If you google "only a game" and "Second Life" together, you get nearly 12,000 hits. It is like a mantra that people keep repeating to keep some thought or idea at bay - and I think the dangerous idea that Second Life shoves in your face every day is this: our wealth is virtual, our property is transient, and our social lives are mediated by technology, nomadic, and often fleeting. I think that when people keep saying "it's only a game" they are really saying "the rest of my world isn't like this: my wealth is tangible and permanent, my friendships are unmediated and also permanent." Saying "it's only a game" is like saying "this isn't how things really are, this is just a bad dream." People need to pinch themselves, because this ain't no dream. This is reality; deal with it.

(Via Terra Nova.)

12 January 2007

From Mixed Doubles to Mixed Reality

As a Brit, my childhood summers always had the Wimbledon tennis championship as a kind of vague backdrop; this seems to have inoculated me against too much enthusiasm for the game these days. So news that IBM has created a recreation of the Australian Open would normally leave me breathing in more air than usual.

This aspect of it, on the other hand, sounds seriously cool:

data is pulled directly from IBM tracking technology used to collect data on live Grand Slam tennis matches. This data is applied in near real-time to a virtual tennis ball and two participating avatars in a 3D reconstruction of the Melbourne Tennis Centre. Those watching the match are able to view the proceedings from the bleachers and also from the eyes of the players.

I also like Tony Walsh's description of this situation as "Mixed Reality".