Avatar and the true science of virtual experience
By Dr Johanna Saltis
I recently saw Avatar in 3-D. Cool florescent forests. Worth seeing if you also want to see an allegory for some contemporary and historical atrocities.
Putting social conscience aside, this movie also got me thinking about another important topic, the psychology and neuroscience of potential Avatar technology. Did I say potential? A few years ago now, a Wired article summed up the emerging data from experiments simulating virtual experiences. See http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/12/vr-goggles-and/ for a discussion of these (2/12/08).
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