Total media immersion: fact or fiction?

Is it really possible for a medium to totally immerse an individual to the point that that individual loses all sense of reality?

Just reading that question conjures up thoughts of The Matrix, does it not? The fact of the matter is, we are becoming a society that needs technological satiation. Does this however mean that we will one day be immersed in it to the point that our past realities are forgotten? I sure hope not. This dystopian idea that man and technology will one day become synonymous scares me. With interactive video games (Wii), online worlds (WOW, Secondlife, etc.), and other biotechnologies, the line is blurring between man and machine. When will the line disappear causing man and machine to combine into one livable, communicative, being.

To simply answer this question, to me, is impossible. It is impossible to know what the future holds. What is possible however is to explore current trends in technology and piece together a possible projection of things to come. When looking as such a model, one can only come to one conclusion: We ain't seen nothing yet. I fully believe we will have 100% immersive technologies, take the Pepsi Pavilion or VIEW, but to bring to the point of forgetting actual reality is a stretch at this point in time. Now, if you were to say that to someone who has devoted their life to Everquest, Secondlife, or World of Warcraft, they might laugh at you. But to totally forget that you are playing a game, participating in a experiment, or using virtual reality seems far fetched (though possible).

Geeks and Artboys

This diary entry by William Gibson was all over the place. I assume that anyone in the multimedia/virtual reality field would understand his abundance of references to others in the field, I certainly was lost. Maybe I am missing something, though I have read this piece twice now. To me, the article is simply about the vague distinction between "artboys" and "geeks". And I know that the title of this article implies this, though it really is hard to ascertain this by reading the article. The piece to me seems to be an exploration of this mans (as well as technologies') past through the lens of "geeK" turned "artboy". As Gibson alludes to, the distinction between "artboy" and "geek" is becoming less and less tangible, and I would have to agree. Throughout the last 15-20 years, almost all of our new technologies are based in art. Take the iPod for example, a sleek and dare-I-say- sexy piece of technology that was the brain child of geeks. It seems to me that this article should have been written way before seven years ago.

Faux Photography

I think that this kind of fake/overlapped/embellished photography is amazing. Using this kind of photography allows the artist to create situations and atmospheres that were once reserved for either paintings or special effects. The only drawback I see with this kind of artwork is with the interpretation of such pictures. To me, if the artist does not label their work with a disclaimer that the photo is not 100% real, then they are bordering on plagiarism. While the works are great and visually mesmerizing, they need to be labeled as such.

1st post: Multimedia Aspirations

The main reason I am taking this course is to learn the ways in which most of my favorite media is produced. I have always been curious about how sound is layered and put together as well as some of the background behind the basics of taking good pictures. I have also always wanted to take a crash course in Final Cut Pro because I have always wanted to film and edit short video clips. Overall I am excited about taking this course.