On "Virtual Interface Environments" by Scott Fisher

Mr. Fisher's essay while incredibly visionary and interesting fails to address certain negatives inherent to virtual reality technology.

First, I believe that the most obvious concern with virtual reality is a matter of cost vs. reward. While Fisher notes the decreasing cost of the systems that comprise VR technology, the 16 years since the writing of this essay have proved that even with those costs going down the necessity for VR has not increased to the point where the technology has reached critical mass. Evidence of this is the fact that the 1990s were full of fringe interest in VR but very little commercial investment. I can name several movies off the top of my head that addressed the technology, but can name only one mainstream commercial application of it: Nintendo's ill-fated Virtual Boy, which I actually own but only used for some months after receiving it.

The above suggests that the world is a place where while certain technologies are interesting and "cool" they still don't bring enough substance and functionality to the table to make them commonplace. I recall a year 2000 commercial where Star Trek: Deep Space Nine actor Avery Brooks ruminated over the question "Where are the flying cars?” The commercial was for IBM and concluded that with the current state of information technology flying cars were unnecessary. I feel that being completely immersed in virtual environments has also proved unnecessary, as even intricate surgery (let alone a mere rehearsal) would only require extensive mapping of a patient's interior anatomy, a monitor displaying a proper vantage of the patient, and an apparatus allowing the surgeon to use a robotic appendage as his or her own; not the detailed recreation of the entire operating room environment as Fisher suggests.

This leads me to the next negative inherent to VR technology: the ultimate death of human imagination and empathy. As the realism of artificial experiences increases the need for the viewer's imagination to become engaged and fill in the blanks decreases. As a child, daydreaming was a favorite pastime of mine. I could do it for hours and be perfectly entertained. However, as my access to television and the Internet increased, not only did my desire to daydream decrease, but also my ability to do so.

More dangerous than this is the addicting nature of increasing levels of realism in artificial experience. As the individual's imagination is further eroded by exposure to increasingly realistic artificial environments, increased levels of realism become necessary to create an emotive response. Thus, a "hyper-reality" will have to be created once artificial reality reaches a level of parity with actual reality. At this point, the individual will no longer be moved by the actual world around him and will be desensitized and indifferent to all but artificially created fantasy.