Time to face facts: we are living in Jetsons times. A device that fits in your pocket can hold libraries’ worth of information, instantly put you in contact with someone on the other side of the planet, and order pizza without once necessitating interaction with another human being. We’ve developed hoverboards (except not really), robot cigarettes (except not really), and even 3D televisions (that one’s for real). Short of teleportation as a commercially viable mode of travel, we’re pretty much living in the gleaming future imagined decades ago by the folks at Hanna-Barbera, though we’ve still had trouble eliminating that pesky need for human interaction. We’re well on our way to robot butlers, but not quite at the point where we can replace all of our flesh-and-blood friends with computer programs carefully calibrated to stimulate and relax us in a social setting.
A new report from Forbes, however, indicates that technicians from Pixar and Bungie have taken one small step for virtual-reality software and one giant leap for antisocial-kind. The video piece, available on the site, outlines the newly developed technology for interactive virtual-reality film, in which the characters onscreen can recognize, react and interface with the viewer. (Remember the video game from Her, with the little foulmouthed kid? Kind of like that, but a movie.) The Forbes video details the creation of Gary The Gull, a little experiment acquainting the player/viewer with a wisecracking seagull. It’s cute, doesn’t really do much, but now the floodgates have been thrown open. The possible sexual applications of this technology are, in a word, staggering. Beyond that, even, this is a massive development both in terms of art and craft; soon, humanity will have transcended interpersonal interaction completely. We can retreat to our cocoons of self-imposed isolation, safe and secure in the knowledge that a computer program can’t tell you just broke wind, so long as you do it quietly.
(Via Forbes)
