I want to spend a little bit more time talking about technological determinism and cultural materialism. Again, I see virtual reality on the side of technological determinism. It has its own set of rules and guidelines on how it works and has a strong impact on our society due to its strong ubiquitous nature. I see virtual reality as something of a computerised space that existed far before roleplaying games and web 2.0 was invented. Its existence may have shifted over the years in definition but its basically a space where people could simulate their presence on the internet, I feel that we have already been doing this ever since emails, webcams and voice chat has been invented - just that it wasn't to the level of having a physical connection to the virtual world since we were quite limited in technology over a decade ago.
In the future I see virtual reality to play a big part in our society, my experience with virtual reality connects with the classic sci-fi film Tron (1982) where it depicts a world created through computer processes and binary, through such spaces, many of readings are mixed in terms of what virtual reality could impact society but most encourage its use due to how it could benefit society. I really like the idea of having a Tron-like reality where we could render virtual shopping malls and have people set up shop there which could lower fixed costs. I personally see a lot of good in virtual reality as it is also acts as good training such as military training on driving tanks and personnel.
As for augmented reality, in contrast to virtual reality which is a simulated space with its own set of principles and a whole different plane of reality; augmented reality enhances our reality and basically assists our reality in many ways. In this regard it leans towards cultural materialism since because of its nature. I could name a few augmented reality things that are available to the public today such as the Xbox Kinect and an old augmented reality simulator game which simulates fishing and hunting dragons (Japan Trend Shop 2013).
Again I believe virtual reality and augmented reality are both things that try to tap into a higher potential of the human brain as detaches and delegates our body into useful machines.
Remember World Lens (QuestVisual 2010) a while back? Well that's also a piece of augmented reality. I like how it draws from a simple program we use regularly like google translate and shifts its gaze into enhancing our reality. This idea of extending our capabilites to machine is definitely one of the major ideas of augmented reality. Sure, it makes us redundant in the process but it makes our lives easier.
References
Japan Trend Shop 2013, Dragon Hunting Real Augmented Reality Virtual Fishing Reel, accessed 13 April 2013,
<http://www.japantrendshop.com/dragon-hunting-real-augmented-reality-virtual-fishing-reel-p-1348.html>
QuestVisual 2010, Introducing World Lens, online video, accessed 13 April 2013,
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=h2OfQdYrHRs>
Tron 1982, film, Buena Vista Distribution Company, United States.
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