Guys i really need help on this essay. The word limit is 1000 so im okay on that front but i think my essay gets too confusing. help!
In a world where technology continually adapts and progresses, Harvey Mudd College expects that our students will be aware of the impact of their work on society. How would you use new advances to improve your life and/or the lives of those around you? Describe your idea and its potential impact. Feel free to be as creative or as practical as you like.
I confess; I love Star trek. I might not be one of those strange, cult-like "Trekkies" you occasionally see on television, but I do love the show as well as its premise. Its ability to captivate my imagination and force me to consider the ramification of ideas has made Star Trek hold a place dear in my heart. One particular element in Star Trek always awed me; the holodeck. The Holodeck is in essence a room with a simulated reality within it with holograms that can interact with the user and 3D images that appear to be almost lifelike.
For this idea to work, projectors must be placed on all sides of the room. For simplicity, lets assume that each holodeck is a four sided simple rectangular room. On each wall, there will be one projector and there will be large, multi-projector in the centre. Furthermore, various projectors will be placed on the ceiling each positioned some fixed interval apart, say one tile. The reason for this various image projection devices situated around the room is to give an illusion of 3 dimensions. Indeed, this is a similar concept to the proposed "hologram room" patented by Microsoft. However, unlike Microsoft's concept which makes essentially makes the walls into large screens, I wish to create 3D models.
There are various limitations to my own concept and I'll be first to admit it. Firstly, calibration is an issue. A person enjoying this experience is not supposed to stay stationary but rather move around and interact with the virtual surroundings. However, each time you move, the cameras and the corresponding projectors must alter their projection angles so that you, the user, continue to see the holograms in 3D. Furthermore, a person is a physical object in the room which light simply cannot get passed and if for instance the user is to go to close to the hologram it would interrupt the projection similar to that annoying individual in every class who walks past the projector obscuring the projection. This is why I proposed the projectors on the ceiling. Each time a projector is interrupted or blocked, another one can assume its place.
Virtual reality could become all too possible. My vision is that the holograms will be used as a type of entertainment medium. However, I don't expect it to resemble movies or books which are essentially passive but rather an entertainment platform such as videogames which interact with the user. An entire artificial world can be created in your living room, full of people and elements that react to your input. For this, some sort of virtual intelligence is required. With voice recognition and software such as Siri on the iPhone (and of course far more advanced software elsewhere) already available, this technology seems possible in the near future. The possibilities for this are endless. People could develop entire virtual worlds where they could entertain, educate and even develop new technologies by first virtually creating prototypes. I envision medicine could be revolutionized, as complex surgeries could first be tested in these virtual worlds, or the effects of antibodies on specific forms of bacteria.
Of course, this underscores the greatest danger of virtual worlds. People could become lost to it. Videogame addiction would be nothing compared with the virtual worlds that we could be create. The line between reality and fantasy will become blurred. This point emphasizes the irony of creating such a device. Just as the fiction of Star Trek will become a reality, will our reality become a fiction?
