Virtual Reality Gets Real 虚拟现实：奇妙新世界

Maria+Konnikova++译+杨锐

虚拟现实（virtual reality，简称VR）对很多人来说还是个虚无缥缈的概念。但在2016年1月的国际消费类电子产品展览会上，一系列炫酷的VR产品吸引了人们的眼球。尽管VR技术的发展仍不够成熟，但它已开始在教育、娱乐、考古、医疗等领域应用。说不准哪一天，虚拟现实就会走进你我的生活，创造出一个超乎想象的奇妙新世界。

In 1965， Ivan Sutherland， a computer-graphics pioneer， addressed an international meeting of techies on the subject of virtual reality. The ultimate virtual-reality display， he told the audience， would be “a room within which the computer can control the existence of matter. A chair displayed in such a room would be good enough to sit in. Handcuffs displayed in such a room would be confining， and a bullet displayed in such a room would be fatal. With appropriate programming， such a display could literally be the Wonderland into which Alice walked.”

Virtual reality has advanced rapidly in the past couple of years—the much-anticipated Oculus Rift headset1） is expected to arrive in stores in 2016. Yet the technology is still very new， and Sutherlands vision seems little closer to actual reality. “Right now， its like when you first had cellphones，” Richard Marks， one of the lead engineers working on Project Morpheus2） told me. “A lot of focus is still on the most-basic things.” I recently spoke with scientists， psychologists， engineers， and developers about the possibilities for this emerging field. Where might it eventually take us—and will that be somewhere we want to go？

Being Virtually Anywhere

During a recent demonstration of Google Cardboard3） I found myself by turns atop a rocky peak， in a barn next to a snorting horse， and on a gondola4） making my way up a mountain. The gondola ride gave me vertigo5）. We react like that， experts say， because our brains are easily fooled when what we see on a display tracks our head movements. “We have a reptilian instinct6） that responds as if its real： Dont step off that cliff，” Jeremy Bailenson， the founding director of Stanfords Virtual Human Interaction Lab， told me. “The brain hasnt evolved to tell you its not real.”

Much of the excitement about virtual reality has come from the gaming community. Who wouldnt want to experience a game so completely？ But gaming is just the start. David Laidlaw， the head of the Visualization Research Lab at Brown University， told me that his team has re-created a temple site in Petra， Jordan， enabling researchers to see previously unclear relationships between objects found there. Google is testing Expeditions7）， a way of sending students to places like the Great Barrier Reef， where they can virtually scuba dive as part of a lesson on marine biology and ocean acidification. Similar approaches may enhance professional training. By donning a pair of goggles， a neurosurgeon could navigate brain structures before surgery. Another possibility： Imagine that youre unable to attend a family gathering. With a pair of glasses， youre in the middle of the action. And everyone there wears glasses that make it appear as though youre present. The whole thing is recorded， so you can replay the experience whenever youd like.

Seeing Through Others Eyes

In his lab at Stanford， Bailenson studies how virtual reality changes behavior. Hes found that if your avatar is taller than you are in real life， you become more confident. If you have a particularly attractive avatar， you become friendlier. These changes last even after you leave the virtual realm.

And avatars could soon become more convincing. Most commercial virtual-reality systems capture only the movement of your head and hands. In 2013， though， Apple acquired PrimeSense， an Israeli company developing technology to track the movements of your whole body with infrared8） sensors and special microchips. And a company called Faceshift is working to capture facial expressions， so that if you smile or roll your eyes， your avatar will too.

Virtual reality has already proved useful in treating phobias and PTSD9）. It can help people overcome a fear of heights， for example， through simulations of standing on a balcony or walking across a bridge. Bailenson and others think it could also be used to build empathy. What if you could step inside a documentary， rather than just watching it on a screen—almost literally walking in someone elses shoes？ That was the goal of Clouds Over Sidra10）， a virtual-reality film that followed a 12-year-old girl in a Syrian-refugee camp in Jordan. And what if you could do something similar in real time？ “Combine this sort of immersive storytelling， as it evolves， with technologies like Periscope11） and Meerkat12）， and you can in essence see the world through anyones eyes，” Clay Bavor， the head of Googles virtual-reality initiatives， told me.

Engaging All Your Senses

Google recently acquired Thrive Audio， a company that specializes in spatial audio—sounds that your ear registers as emanating from a particular place. A virtual waterfall grows louder as you move toward it. Something catches your ear from behind. You turn， and see a deer approaching. The audio becomes three-dimensional， truly surrounding you. Smell could become part of the virtual experience as well. A company called Feelreal has developed a mask that releases scents， such as the smell of fire or the ocean， to enhance what you see in a headset. Closely related is the ability to taste what you see. Researchers in Singapore are developing electrodes that， when placed on your tongue， mimic basic tastes， such as sweet， salty， bitter， and sour.

What about touch？ Could we one day find that when we dip our fingers in virtual water， it actually feels wet？ David Laidlaw considers resolving this challenge， known as the haptics13） problem， to be the holy grail14） of virtual reality. But that doesnt mean its insurmountable. “Im confident well do it within our lifetimes，” Palmer Luckey， the founder of Oculus， told me. “There are no fundamental physical laws that prevent us from building something thats almost perfect.”

A Neuromancer15） Future？

Jeremy Bailenson was inspired to work in virtual reality in part by Neuromancer， a 1984 novel that depicts a future in which people can “jack in16）” their brains directly to a virtual world. Perhaps， Bailenson speculates， thats where virtual reality is headed. He imagines that in 50 or 100 years we might develop a brain-machine interface that taps directly into the nervous system.

Perhaps then well find that rather than jacking in for a while and calling it quits， we can， like Alice， move wholly into a Wonderland where the laws of the prosaic17） world （gravity， aging） no longer apply. Virtual reality could then become akin to the Singularity18）， a concept described by Ray Kurzweil， a futurist and Google engineer， among others： a way for our minds to separate from our bodies and， uploaded into a digital realm， live on even as our physical selves grow old and die. Just like Wonderland， its a vision both equally entrancing and frightening.

1965年，计算机图形学先驱伊凡·萨瑟兰在技术人员参加的一个国际会议上发表演讲，演讲的主题是虚拟现实。他告诉听众，最终的虚拟现实展现出的将是“一个房间，房内物质的存在皆由电脑控制。房间里展示的椅子足够结实，可以坐上去；手铐可以限制人的自由；子弹也可以致命。只要加以适当的编程，这样的展示真的可以成为爱丽丝漫游的奇境”。

虚拟现实在过去几年迅速发展——备受期待的Oculus Rift头戴式显示器预计2016年可上市。但是这项技术还很新，萨瑟兰的设想似乎并没有更接近实际的现实。“眼下，就像你刚刚拥有手机一样，许多焦点还聚集在最基本的东西上。”另一款显示器Project Morpheus的一位首席研发工程师理查德·马克思跟我说道。我最近和科学家、心理学家、工程师、研发人员都有过交流，探讨这个新兴领域的发展前景。这一领域最终将带我们走向何方？那会是我们想去的地方吗？

处处可虚拟

在最近的一次谷歌Cardboard演示会上，我发现自己一会儿登上乱石嶙峋的山顶，一会儿身处马圈，旁边就是一匹马儿在喷鼻喘气，一会儿又乘着贡多拉驶向山顶，坐在贡多拉里，我感到阵阵眩晕。……