Infinite reality : avatars, eternal life, new worlds, and the dawn of the virtual revolution

How do The Matrix, Avatar, and Tron reveal the future of existence? can our brains recognize where "reality" ends and "virtual" begins? What would it mean to live eternally in a digital universe? Where will technology lead us in five, fifty, and five hundred years? Two innovative scientists explore the mystery and reality of the virtual and examine the profound potential of emerging digital technologies Welcome to the future . . . The coming explosion of immersive digital technology, combined with recent progress in unlocking how the mind works, will soon revolutionize our lives in ways only science fiction has imagined. In Infinite Reality, Jeremy Bailenson (Stanford University) and Jim Blascovich (University of California, Santa Barbara)—two of virtual reality's pioneering authorities whose pathbreaking research has mapped how our brain behaves in digital worlds—take us on a mind-bending journey through the virtual universe. Infinite Reality explores what emerging computer technologies and their radical applications will mean for the future of human life and society. 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. “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. Enough with speculation about our digital future. Infinite Reality is the straight dope on what is and isnt 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 How achievable are the virtual experiences seen in The Matrix, Tron , and James Camerons Avatar ? Do our brains know where reality ends and virtual begins? In Infinite Reality , Jim Blascovich and Jeremy Bailenson, two pioneering experts in the field of virtual reality, reveal how the human brain behaves in virtual environments and examine where radical new developments in digital technology will lead us in five, fifty, and five hundred years. Two Silicon Valley-based Professors Survey The Field Of Virtual Reality To Explore The Possibilities And Potential Of Emerging Digital Technologies Through Which Realistic Human Personalities And Environments Can Be Replicated. Dream Machines -- A Museum Of Virtual Media -- Mirror, Mirror On The Wall -- Winning Virtual Friends And Influencing Virtual People -- The Virtual Laboratory -- Who Am I? -- Re-creating Yourself -- Street Smarts -- Eternal Life -- Digital Footprints -- The Virtual Jones -- Virtually Useful -- Virtual Yin And Yang -- More Human Than Human. Jim Blascovich And Jeremy Bailenson. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Applied Pyrolysis Handbook, Second Edition proves the versatility of this technique for analyzing complex samples in a diversity of fields including microbiology, forensic science, industrial research, and environmental analysis. The book offers guidance for using existing instrumentation, interfacing instruments, and integrating other analytical techniques with pyrolysis. It also examines data interpretation and presentation for forensic and product comparison applications. Fully updated with new graphical representations of samples analyzed by pyrolysis as well as new figures, references, an Analytical pyrolysis allows scientists to use routine laboratory instrumentation for analyzing complex, opaque, or insoluble samples more effectively than other analytical techniques alone. Applied Pyrolysis Handbook, Second Edition is a practical guide to the application of pyrolysis techniques to various samples and sample types for a dive "Can our brains recognize where 'reality' ends and 'virtual' begins? Where will technology lead us in five, fifty, or five hundred years? ... Jim Blascovich and Jeremy Bailenson ... explore the profound potential of emerging technologies and reveal how our brains behave in digital worlds"--Page 4 of cover