Online messaging services (Assignment #1)

Nowadays I'd say most people have an email account, and most people would have heard of and/or used some form of instant messaging service, such as Windows Live Messenger (right), AIM, or the Yahoo! Messenger. Many people would say that these instant messaging programs are a great help, because it is much easier to communicate by typing to each other than to have to either find a time and place to get together to talk, or by phone.

For example, Windows Live Messenger features many interesting parts to it. The user-friendly messenger is easy to use and allows the user to even edit the color of the client and change backgrounds for each chat window. This instant messaging program also supports microphones and webcams, meaning that one could actually speak to another and even see each other as they chat. Most of all, it's convenient.

Although online messaging services are generally a beneficial thing, many people are considering how it's harming us as well. Online messaging programs mean that one doesn't absolutely have to talk; they simply need to type out what they want to say. This makes it hard for children to develop crucial social skills, and it's making children less and less social in real life. On Windows Live Messenger, a child could be extremely talkative and seem like they are quite capable of communicating to others, but in real life they could be lacking many socials skills and may find it difficult to talk to others. Things like emotions and body language are incorporated in communicating in real life, but are not implemented in instant messengers, even though there are many icons and pictures that represent feelings. If people get too used to using instant messengers, perhaps the world would be quite awkward, since people would no longer be comfortable in talking in real life.

Virtual Reality? (Assignment #1)

People see virtual reality everywhere now. Some online games, such as massive(ly) multiplayer online role-playing games (more commonly known as MMORPGs), have a "world" of their own in which one could manipulate a character within the game and travel around (For example, World of Warcraft, above). Most games that are available right now are quite detailed in graphics, but true virtual reality is not achieved in these games because not all of the five senses are simulated in the games. Usually, only the sense of sight is simulated. For the other senses to be implemented into the virtual reality, new technology must be developed. Sony had an idea of a machine that could send ultrasonic waves of different lengths and frequencies directly into the human brain to simulate the other senses, but this is still only an idea as no further tests have been done on this matter.

With virtual reality, video games can be taken to a whole new level if all the senses could be recreated. Virtual reality would benefit humans greatly. Already there are people teaching in virtual circumstances, some much like a simple version of some online games. Also, training people for dangerous jobs using virtual reality would be very beneficial, since they would be able to see how it would be like in a dangerous situation. With the current technology, though, this is quite difficult because the senses aren't recreated in most case and there is some challenge in recreating the images in high resolution.

As with almost all ideas, there are also critics for this topic. Many people fear that virtual reality could lead to the downfall of humans. Since in virtual reality, things can be however you want them to be, many people would spend much more time in virtual reality rather than in real life. The popular anime, .hack, is about a person who plays an MMORPG with virtual reality goggles and somehow, something triggered a malfuntion of the virtual reality system and the person is then stuck within "The World", which is the name of the world of that game. The person does not have any memory of who they are in real life and such, while their body is lying in the hospital. This is an example of the fears for health and well-being as virtual reality technology advances, but I can not imagine any of this coming true.

Multi-Touch Interactive Tables! (Assignment #1)

There's a new type of technology out there now: multi-touch sensitive interactive tables.



Microsoft's Surface is one of the many brands of this type of new technology, and it has proved itself to be something that could change the way we live. Nate Anderson's article about this new line of product from Microsoft shows that this $5,000 to $10,000 product has many features that would be quite helpful for commercial uses or even just everyday life. Microsoft's surface is basically a computer-run tabletop with a 30" touch screen that can detect up to 52 touches at a time. The touch screen can also detect inanimate objects as well, such as cameras and mp3 players. This new product is a great way to organize information and data, since you can literally "grab" the data on the table and rearrange it. Surface can automatically detect and connect WiFi-enabled or Bluetooth-enabled products such as cellphones and cameras and mp3's. Once a connection is made, the data within, for example, a camera would appear onto the table for viewing or transferring to other objects. You can somewhat "toss" the files into other gadgets that have already established a connection to the table, or put more files into the camera that you had connected.

In my opinion, this would be a highly useful new product for both economic reasons and for everyone to enjoy. This new concept of being able to use a multi-touch surface could be used in classrooms in the future, can be used on walls and home appliances for easy control of the electronics in the house, and would have many other possible purposes as well. Right now the only drawback I can think of is that not everyone would be able to afford this new technology, since the Surface is not available in the home-market yet. Even when it is, the product would possibly still be extremely expensive for most people.

Second Life

This is one of the many new phenomenons in the online world, Second Life. This 3D artificial world is a creation of Linden Research, featuring many realistic properties one would experience in actual life. This includes business, owning land, meeting new people, and many others. There is also a Teen Grid of Second Life, made specially for youth aging from 13 to 17 so they would no longer need to enter false information in registering for an account, and to protect them from being exposed to adult material one may find in the Main Grid. The currency used in Second Life is known as Linden Dollars, and you can purchase land and other things with it just like in real life.

Although Second Life seems to be a perfect artificial world, it has been criticized and there had been many riots about this topic. People have even made websites in response to this new phenomenon, one being called "Get a First Life" with links to topics saying "Go Outside --- Membership is Free". Also, there had been issues relating to money, such as transaction failures and having one's money stolen from their account due to hackers.

Overall in my opinion, Second Life is a great artificial world, but that's all it would ever be. An artificial world. Eventually, just like in most games all over the world created by all types of people, there would be hackers who would violate the rules just like in real life. This would cause many issues, especially relating to money. If hackers were to really succeed, they could be ridiculously rich in-game and then sell their money to others, in exchange for real-life currency. I have already seen advertisements on many websites for games such as World of Warcraft about selling an x amount of in-game money for an x amount of real life money. If this were to happen with Second Life, there would be problems with economy and the well-being for some people, if Second Life becomes big enough for people to depend on it for their businesses, which I've heard is already the case for some people.