Understanding New Media: Chapters 47-49

Chapter 47 involves virtual reality and simulations. VR is described as "any medium that imitates another medium"and "an environment hat is simulated by a computer". VR technology fulfills these definitions through the use os special stereoscopic googles and speakers in order to encompass all the users senses to create the illusion of a realistic environment. This is a powerful aspect of VR because when you are immersed in the program, you are not simply an observer but a participant. This interactive nature of VR has led to the creation of RPG games and VR reality platforms.
Chapter 48 describes robots as a "hybrid technology consisting of a computer and a electromechanical mechanism that can automatically perform tasks. The creation of robots, bots, and agents have made many tasks much easier and safer for humans. The use of robots has played a huge role in space exploration as well.
Similar to robots is the creation of Artificial Intelligence and Expert systems. Weak AI is defined as the use of computers to perform automated tasks that need human intelligence. On the other hand, there is strong AI which is an area of research working on ways to make computers intelligent beyond human capacity. This is difficult or impossible to achieve given that AI are only extensions of our own intelligence. A human cannot create something that is beyond them.

Understanding New Media Chapters 47-49

These chapters of Logan's book again deal with New Media not covered in McLuhan's original book. Chaper 47 talks about Virtual Reality and the development of 3D virtual reality platforms. It also describes the concept of role-playing games, as well as massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs). These games, as the name suggests, include many players and often include a storyline and a theme. Chapter 48 deals with robots, bots, and agents. Logan defines a robot as "a hybrid technology consisting of a computer and an electromagnetical mechanism that can automatically perform tasks such as manufacturing, mining, exploration, or clean-ups in environments unsafe or difficult for human operators." Robots have been used in manufacturing for years, often making production faster, but coming at the expense of jobs for human workers. Chapter 49 discusses artificial intelligence (AI) and expert systems. AI is divided into two forms: weak AI and strong AI. Weak AI is,  "the use of computers to automatically perform tasks requiring human intelligence. Strong AI involves the area of study in which research have attempted to create a computer with, "an intelligence that its human creators would not be capable of." An example of this is the IBM computer Big Blue, which won a chess championship.

6/21 Chp. 47-49

Chapter 47 discusses virtual realty. It is important to note that VR seems realistic because it allows for interactivity and therefore a sense of personal involvement. Furthermore the chapter talks about certain VR games that feature real money to be able to purchase virtual commodities or services. When reading this, the Sims social, a Facebook game came to mind. The Sims social allows you to use real money and convert it into Sim money in order to buy certain virtual items or get to the next level. Chapter 48 discuses the role of the robot. Robots have impacted old media by their ability to be programmed to play soccer, sumo wrestling, navigate around furniture in order to clean and even be part of space exploration. What I found most interesting about the Robots is that some robots are able to be part of invasive surgical procedures. Robots have the ability to do so many things that are crucial in human life. For an example, some robots have the ability to translate languages, read emails out loud and even summarize a paragraph. These “bots” help simplify thing needed in everyday life. Chapter 49 discusses weak AI and strong AI. Weak AI would be the lowly calculator or a system programmed by someone to make inferences for a given set of data. Strong AI would be a computer capable of developing intelligence that humans do not have. The author argues that this is a fantasy because “computers are only extensions of our own intelligence (323).” Lastly, the author talks about AI and its ability to help explore the web. I found it interesting that the website StumbleUpon is a helpful resource to retrieve useful information from the web since it is filtered by people and the machine.

Chapters 47-49

Chapter 47 talks about the most recent discussion we had in class known as Virtual Realities and simulations.  Wikipedia defines virtual reality as “an environment that is simulated by a computer.”  Based on the picture in class that professor Strate showed us, virtual reality is like a video game, in that a headpiece is worn showing objects and backgrounds that are not seen in real reality.  Although this type of technology has been around for a few decades, progress with it has not been extremely fast.  The immersion that you are in while using virtual reality makes the experience feel so real.  Many of the uses for virtual reality involve games and role-playing.  The most important part of virtual reality that we discussed in class was the article named “A Rape in Cyberspace.”  Although we did not read it in class, one of my communication professors last semester had us read it.  The debate will most likely never be solved, claiming if it is considered rape if the person in the virtual reality has severe emotional side effects?

     Chapter 48 discusses robots, bots, and agents.  A robot is a hybrid technology containing a computer and an electromechanical mechanism that automatically performs tasks.  Although this seems like a far-fetched idea, robots are more common in households more and more.  One example is the robot vacuum, which vacuums on its own without the help of anyone but for the “on” button.  But the most useful of the robots is used for space exploration.  Instead of sending people into space, robots are completely capable of being sent and are capable of taking many pictures.  A bot is a software agent (proactive and reactive computer software).  Artificial intelligence is used by chatterbots, which stimulate human conversation.  One bif company that has used bots is Google, which is why Google is such a great and successful company.

     Chapter 49 discusses artificial intelligence and expert systems.  AI is the use of computers to automatically perform tasks requiring human intelligence.  AI is also use for sophisticated tasks in which judgment is required.  An example is a program that has been taught to make inferences for a given set of data in a particular problem domain.  The Web is a form of AI because it is a storehouse of information and human knowledge, having over 100 million websites.