Physics of the Future: How Science Will Shape Human Destiny and Our Daily Lives by the Year 2100 by Michio Kaku Page B
Authors: Michio Kaku
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aircraft carrier by watching a computer screen and moving a joystick. In case of a nuclear war, generals and political leaders from distant locations could meet secretly in cyberspace.
Today, with computer power expanding exponentially, one can live in a simulated world, where you can control an avatar (an animated image that represents you). You can meet other avatars, explore imaginary worlds, and even fall in love and get married. You can also buy virtual items with virtual money that can then be converted to real money. One of the most popular sites, Second Life, registered 16 million accounts by 2009. That year, several people earned more than $1 million per year using Second Life. (The profit you make, however, is taxable by the U.S. government, which considers it real income.)
Virtual reality is already a staple of video games. In the future as computer power continues to expand, via your glasses or wall screen, you will also be able to visit unreal worlds. For example, if you wish to go shopping or visit an exotic place, you might first do it via virtual reality, navigating the computer screen as if you were really there. In this way, you will be able to walk on the moon, vacation on Mars, shop in distant countries, visit any museum, and decide for yourself where you want to go.
You will also, to a degree, have the ability to feel and touch objects in this cyberworld. This is called “haptic technology” and allows you to feel the presence of objects that are computer generated. It was first developed by scientists who had to handle highly radioactive materials with remote-controlled robotic arms, and by the military, which wanted its pilots to feel the resistance of a joystick in a flight simulator.
To duplicate the sense of touch scientists have created a device attached to springs and gears, so that as you push your fingers forward on the device, it pushes back, simulating the sensation of pressure. As you move your fingers across a table, for example, this device can simulate the sensation of feeling its hard wooden surface. In this way, you can feel the presence of objects that are seen in virtual reality goggles, completing the illusion that you are somewhere else.
To create the sensation of texture, another device allows your fingers to pass across a surface containing thousands of tiny pins. As your fingers move, the height of each pin is controlled by a computer, so that it can simulate the texture of hard surfaces, velvety cloth, or rough sandpaper. In the future, by putting on special gloves, it may be possible to give a realistic sensation of touch over a variety of objects and surfaces.
This will be essential for training surgeons in the future, since the surgeon has to be able to sense pressure when performing delicate surgery, and the patient might be a 3-D holographic image. It also takes us a bit closer to the holodeck of the Star Trek series, where you wander in a virtual world and can touch virtual objects. As you roam around an empty room, you can see fantastic objects in your goggles or contact lens. As you reach out and grab them, a haptic device rises from the floor and simulates the object you are touching.
I had a chance to witness these technologies firsthand when I visited the CAVE (cave automatic virtual environment) at Rowan University in New Jersey for the Science Channel. I entered an empty room, where I was surrounded by four walls, each wall lit up by a projector. 3-D images could be flashed onto the walls, giving the illusion of being transported to another world. In one demonstration, I was surrounded by giant, ferocious dinosaurs. By moving a joystick, I could take a ride on the back of a Tyrannosaurus rex, or even go right into its mouth. Then I visited the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland, where the U.S. military has devised the most advanced version of a holodeck. Sensors were placed on my helmet and backpack, so the computer knew exactly the position of my body. I
Today, with computer power expanding exponentially, one can live in a simulated world, where you can control an avatar (an animated image that represents you). You can meet other avatars, explore imaginary worlds, and even fall in love and get married. You can also buy virtual items with virtual money that can then be converted to real money. One of the most popular sites, Second Life, registered 16 million accounts by 2009. That year, several people earned more than $1 million per year using Second Life. (The profit you make, however, is taxable by the U.S. government, which considers it real income.)
Virtual reality is already a staple of video games. In the future as computer power continues to expand, via your glasses or wall screen, you will also be able to visit unreal worlds. For example, if you wish to go shopping or visit an exotic place, you might first do it via virtual reality, navigating the computer screen as if you were really there. In this way, you will be able to walk on the moon, vacation on Mars, shop in distant countries, visit any museum, and decide for yourself where you want to go.
You will also, to a degree, have the ability to feel and touch objects in this cyberworld. This is called “haptic technology” and allows you to feel the presence of objects that are computer generated. It was first developed by scientists who had to handle highly radioactive materials with remote-controlled robotic arms, and by the military, which wanted its pilots to feel the resistance of a joystick in a flight simulator.
To duplicate the sense of touch scientists have created a device attached to springs and gears, so that as you push your fingers forward on the device, it pushes back, simulating the sensation of pressure. As you move your fingers across a table, for example, this device can simulate the sensation of feeling its hard wooden surface. In this way, you can feel the presence of objects that are seen in virtual reality goggles, completing the illusion that you are somewhere else.
To create the sensation of texture, another device allows your fingers to pass across a surface containing thousands of tiny pins. As your fingers move, the height of each pin is controlled by a computer, so that it can simulate the texture of hard surfaces, velvety cloth, or rough sandpaper. In the future, by putting on special gloves, it may be possible to give a realistic sensation of touch over a variety of objects and surfaces.
This will be essential for training surgeons in the future, since the surgeon has to be able to sense pressure when performing delicate surgery, and the patient might be a 3-D holographic image. It also takes us a bit closer to the holodeck of the Star Trek series, where you wander in a virtual world and can touch virtual objects. As you roam around an empty room, you can see fantastic objects in your goggles or contact lens. As you reach out and grab them, a haptic device rises from the floor and simulates the object you are touching.
I had a chance to witness these technologies firsthand when I visited the CAVE (cave automatic virtual environment) at Rowan University in New Jersey for the Science Channel. I entered an empty room, where I was surrounded by four walls, each wall lit up by a projector. 3-D images could be flashed onto the walls, giving the illusion of being transported to another world. In one demonstration, I was surrounded by giant, ferocious dinosaurs. By moving a joystick, I could take a ride on the back of a Tyrannosaurus rex, or even go right into its mouth. Then I visited the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland, where the U.S. military has devised the most advanced version of a holodeck. Sensors were placed on my helmet and backpack, so the computer knew exactly the position of my body. I
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