Virtual Reality: The Revolutionary Technology of Computer-Generated Artificial Worlds-And How It Promises to Transform Society

By Howard Rheingold

Book Overview

Imagine being able to "walk" into your computer and interact with any program you create. It sounds like science fiction, but it's science fact. Surgeons now rehearse operations on computer-generated "virtual" patients, and architects "walk through" virtual buildings while the actual structures are still in blueprints. In Virtual Reality, Howard Rheingold takes us to the front lines of this revolutionary new technology that creates computer-generated worlds complete with the sensations of touch and motion, and explores its impact on everything from entertainment to particle physics.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0671778978
• ISBN13: 9780671778972
• Release Date: August 1992
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Length: 416 Pages
• Weight: 1.04 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.3" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Sacred and Scary Reflections on Neo-Biologicial Civilization

First published in 1991, this is a gem that should be one of the first readings of anyone contemplated the sacred and the scary aspects of how humans, machines, and software are being changed by emerging information technologies. While there is a lot of focus on "cool tools" and all the paraphenalia of "virtual reality" qua artificial sensation and perception, the rock bottom foundation of this book can be found in Howard reflections on what it all means for the transformation of humans, business, and society in general.