A few steps closer to Otherland?

Published July 1, 2013 | By admin

As long time fans of the alternative reality envisioned by Tad Williams in his ‘Otherland’ series of books, we are always on the lookout in the real world for a way to get that ‘full immersion experience’ they enjoy. Whilst it seems that being fitted with your own ‘Neurocanella’ is still some way off, it has been interesting to see some of the new gaming interfaces such as the Oculus Rift VR headset and movement/action platforms like the WizDish and the Omni from Virtuix.As enthusiasts of immersive reality, we would be lying if we said we’re not desparate to get our hands on some of these products to play with. They certainly look like being serious contenders as successors for the Wii and its ilk. But I wonder if the truly virtual experience lies elsewhere.

A lot of research has been done on the way conscious reality is constructed in your mind and actually, it often bears little relation to the real world around you. So whilst the current generation of VR products brings us one step closer to that ultimate experience, I wonder if the future is much more about the subtle manipulation of the mind, rather than the direct experience of the body.

The developers of the WizDish certainly seem to be embracing some of these principles in the way they integrate the feeling of movement with the illusion of speed.

It may not be long before someone finds a way to exploit the ‘rubber hand illusion‘, or some whole person variation, to fully disembody our reality and move it completely ‘into the game’ allowing us to slip quietly into our warm, embracing, jello-filled immersion tank (feeding tubes optional). But hopefully not permanently. Unlike the Tandagore Syndrome of Otherland …