Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!dali.cs.montana.edu!milton!hlab From: jdb9608@ultb.isc.rit.edu (J.D. Beutel) Newsgroups: sci.virtual-worlds Subject: Re: Chris' Ethics Paper: Report from Cybercon 2 Message-ID: <1991Apr30.050935.12710@milton.u.washington.edu> Date: 30 Apr 91 02:24:28 GMT References: <1991Apr29.200959.17885@milton.u.washington.edu> Sender: hlab@milton.u.washington.edu (Human Int. Technology Lab) Organization: Rochester Institute of Technology Lines: 43 Approved: cyberoid@milton.u.washington.edu >>For example if one is in >>VR and is constantly given the ability to see magnetic fields, >>once he removes the goggles will his senses pick up on this >>ability and be able to see the fields in reality? > >No. The human eye is not sensitive to normal strength magnetic fields. >Sorry. Seeing is more than meets the eye. Sometimes you see what you expect to see, even tho it's not really there. And then there are things right in front of you which you might never notice. Imagine a eyephone/camera/computer which can (somehow) identify hidden weapons (like an experienced police officer) by suspicious bulges in clothing. A rookie could use this visual cue to learn what to look for. With experience the rookie could see what s/he could not see before, but would learn faster with the cueing. How about a similar system for engineers, with input from stress sensors (inside bridges, buildings, or machines)? The VR cues presented in conjunction with the engineer's own senses may allow him/her to learn what to look for. The engineer may begin to be able to see the stressed areas without any input from internal sensors. I expect those wouldn't be the strangest changes in perception. Many suprising discoveries have been made about human perception, so far. VR can be a new tool in experimental psychology, and it may lead to new discoveries--results we could never have imagined because we are so deeply entrenched in the reality we have adapted for ourselves. >>VR is going to lead us to new levels of consciousness. > >And new paradigms of thought and new sensory modalities. You forgot those. Oh yeah--and all that stuff, too. -- -- J. David Beutel 11011011 jdb9608@cs.rit.edu "I am, therefore I am."