Virtual Reality: A World of Pure Imagination (Blog Post #4)

  A Digital Environment

   Take a second and look down at your body. Look at your hands, your chest, and your feet. Then look at the environment around you. Try to take in as many details as you possibly can. This is your unchangeable perception of reality or so we once thought. While we may not be able to change your true perception of your environment, we can simulate a new one with the invention of Virtual Reality. Virtual Reality or VR for short is a device that simulates a digital environment that immerses the user of the device. They can interact with this simulated environments and in most recent software they can even feel a digital touch and communicate to computer generated characters creating a human and computer interaction that feels almost lifelike. 

 

A Spark of Imagination 

            The first idea of being transported to another world derived from a short story written in 1935 by Stanley Weinbaum. The plot of the story is about a professor, who invented a pair of glasses that allows the user to transport their five senses into a completely fictional world.

 

    This idea of transporting oneself into a complete fictional world, sparked many minds to create a device like these glasses. The first step in the creation of a device similar to those glasses was the development of Sensorama in 1957. This device was a large arcade booth machine, where one would sit in a chair and stick their head in this dark space in the top of the machine. Sensorama would then display “stereoscopic-3D film combined with audio, moving air, vibrationsand even aromas” to simulate this virtual reality experience. 

 

 

This was revolutionary and was immediately taken in by the military as being able to simulate a least a small experience of what war would be like could better prepare them. Thus, VR while primitive was engineered by Thomas Furness (a military engineer) to be a flight simulator of sorts to simulate G-force while being in the cockpit high in the sky with all the buttons in the plane. It gave those not yet ready to fly a pair of digital wings to help them become a better pilot without the risk of flying ill prepared. With the military now interested in the development of this technology more and more money was funded into the development of this device. 

 

Leave it too the Gamers

            The military was not the only people interested in this new technology. The gaming industry took this idea and began running with it. In 1995 the first home VR headset was created by the Nintendo company, and it was called “Virtual Boy”.

    This device was rather weird and very difficult to use, but it was a step in the right direction. People could play very simplistic 8-bit games (which were also incredibly red and hurt your eyes easily, but we won’t focus on that) as well as certain films that were developed and ported to work on the device. While the creation of more powerful VR headsets was far from being created, the people’s hope never gave in. 

    Thus 17 years later a Kickstarter campaign began for the funding of the Oculus Rift VRheadset. Which was funded in less than 24 hours of being posted. This was the idea that sparked the several other types of VR headsets. Furthermore only two more years later and Zuckerberg had purchased the Oculus Rift license for $2 billion dollars. After these purchases more and more companies began producing their own VR devices. Sony’s PlayStation, Samsung, and even Google all wanted a piece of this virtual world.

 

 Eventual the headset was not enough, and people wanted to touch objects and walk around in the environment. Thus, certain hand controllers were developed that allowed the user to use each of their fingers to life objects and interact with this digital environment. Simply put, like Stanley Weinbaum first imagined in his short story, a user of the VR technology could transport themselves to an assortment of words and interact with objects and NPCs alike all from the comforts of one’s home by just slipping on a headgear and holding two controllers.  

 

The Legacy of VR 

            The creation and eventual development of the VR device has had a massive impact on the world. Its versatility has been able to benefit many, who utilize it. Take a look at the info graphic bellow explaining a few of its uses.

            Being able to place oneself in other shoes virtually has helped many better understand one another, it has allowed certain people with (specific) disabilities be able to feel what it is like to not have the specific disability. It has benefited employees better handle their job. The impact of this technology is immense, and it can only grow from here on out. Furthermore, to be a little more relevant to today. When COVID-19 had plagued our society and we were stuck in doors, VR allowed us to escape those four walls and go anywhere we wanted and virtually be anyone we want to be.  It was and still is a freeing experience for many.

 

            The future of the technology is endless. There is no limit to what the newer iterations of the headset could be. While the VR technology from the book/movie Ready Player One might be a stretch of the possible ability of VR, we might be able to get pretty darn close. After all its only been 70 years since the creation of the first VR gear and look where it is at now. Just imagine in another 70 years where this device could be. The possibilities are endless and it is incredibly exciting to see what happens next in the field of VR technology.

 

 (Maybe one day we could be as advanced as the VR Technology in Ready Player One)

           

Valuing the Freedom of Expression (Blog Post #3)

The Forgotten Check and Balance

            When Checks and Balanced is mentioned, what may come to mind are the three Branches of Government: The Judicial, Legislative, and Executive Branch. The purpose was to separate the powers of the branches stopping one branch from overpowering the other branches creating an equal system. This system was first developed by an 18 century Philosopher Montesquieu.  But what if I were to tell you that there was one more “branch” a part of the checks and balanced system, the people…sort of. This is a value of free expression and is a theory called “Check on Governmental Power".

    Out of the eight values of free expression this theory touched me the most because it conceptualizes that the people have a bigger part in controlling the government that what is thought to be. Similar to the Judicial Branch and how they call out unconstitutional actions, we as people can call out certain politicians for being inhuman and or unconstitutional. Through the press we can release articles documenting and informing others about certain abused powers that the government may have contributed too. Following this we as a society could act and could call upon certain procedures to occur in the government to fix this inequality or abusive behavior. Such as electing a new official to replace the corrupt one. While this may not always work as sometimes even the people are split on an action to occur, it is incredibly comforting to know that while it may not seem like it all the time, we play a big role in dictating our governments place in our society.

Words of Power

            According to Vincent Blasi a free speech theorist and historian, “freedoms of speech and press is to check the abuse of power by public officials”. I full heatedly agree with Vincent because if the government abuses power (and that includes any of the branches) we as a society need to be able to speak out against it and hold them accountable. There are many cases, where abuse of power occurs and when the people try to speak out against it their
are censored. This might not be the best example, but the Schenckv. United States court case is an example of a censorship of the first amendment. The court ruled in favor of the United States due to the fact that Schenck’s release of press that went against the government created “substantive evil” that went against the congress thus they had every right to prevent. This ruling had stripped Schenck of his first amendment right of freedom of press and speech. halting him from spreading information he had to the public. 

 

             However, I feel as though this theory is taken a bit too far at times. Take the most recent headlining riots. In 2021, the Washingtonin an attempt to halt or at the very least slow down the counting/announcement of the electoral vote for the 2020 presidential election. While it began as a peaceful protest outside the capital, with the people respectfully utilizing their first amendment to call out what they thought to be injustice. It quickly evolved into a violent riot. They had broken into the capital harming many officers as well as other participants of the protest. They stole, broke, and vandalized a sacred building to our country to send a message to the government. This is something I completely disagree with and it not at all the right way to call out the government. This is one of the main reasons that many don’t agree with the theory that the people should be a part of the check system. 

 

(This is an image of the riot outside of the capital)

However, if we were to change our perspective, the ability to protest the government and call them out or at the bare minimum call attention to the abuse in their system is incredibly beneficial. If enough eyes get on the subject than the problem cannot just remain existent, it must be delt with. Thus, if we are thinking about the “Check on Governmental Power” theory and put it into context with the people working alongside the government as the branches do, instead of against the government. Then the people have a massive role to play in establishing a fair and just system.

The Freedom to Express Yourself

            While the “Check on Governmental Power” is my personal favorite of the eight theories because it is an aspect of the freedom of expression that is often taken advantage of and use in a very poorly manner. There were a few other theories that had sparked my interest. To begin the seventh theory stating “promote innovation” is a theory that is definitely important to me. It means that the people can become more and more creative with their thoughts allowing certain areas of progress to be made. A government that purely promotes innovation however would be difficult to control as new ideas on how certain things should be dealt with would constantly be floating around.

    Finally, another theory that peaked my interested as it surprised me how relevant it is in our society the first theory “Marketplace of Ideas”. This theory puts truth and false into a metaphorical fight pit until one makes it out alive to the public. In a society where all of this information is being bounced around, it can be reliving to know that the truth will come out on top. However, this theory also has its downside. Take the long war that has raged on: Evolution vs Creation, these two have fought for many years trying to disprove one another while proving themselves to be the truth. But unfortunately, it is impossible really for one to come out over the other and yet because of the Marketplace of Ideas, people have the freedom to continuously argue their side. Never to see a conclusion to the argument.

Multiverse of Expression

            At the end of the day all it is amazing that we as a society have created such an intricate system that offers us so many ways to express our freedom to the public. Furthermore, they all come from the single most important amendment: the first amendment. These theories we have derived from the first amendment provide us with ideas of how we should handle/interpret our freedom of expression.

Question Corner

How do you think we should handle our freedom of expression?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Order! Order in This Blog! (Blog Post #2)

        

The Key to Freedom

    Simply put, I have always wanted to say those words in a crowded space while repeatedly slamming a hammer on a tale…to be greatly honest before doing my research I thought that the justices and the judicial branch was incredibly secretive and withheld a lot of information from the people and other branches. I was never a fan of the system that it established. Furthermore, I thought that the 9 justices were just stuck up old white people, who thought they were better than the rest. Let’s just say, I was not well informed. Or I just didn’t listen. The judicial branch and the justices inside the system are all incredibly important and useful in our society. This established system was our key to finally unlocking true freedom of the nation. But how did we establish such a complex branch? Well. It all started in the “basement” of the unfinished capital in Washington DC.

A Man. A Basement. And a Dream.

     In 1801, Jefferson had just been elected president and for the most part the country was still trying to determine how the power would be distributed between the government and the people. Despite the country having a checks and balance system containing:  the executive branch, the legislative branch, and the judicial branch. However, there was a problem with this system. The judicial branch seemed to be casted into the shadow of the other two branches as it contained the least amount of power. According to History.com, since the beginning of our governments inception, many of our foundation documents completely left out any information on how a judicial branch could be established and utilized effectively in our government system. Action needed to be taken, but there was no one, who wanted to take on the responsibilities. Except for John Marshall.   

    When he was announced as chief justice, he began to take on the responsibilities of establishing and equal system. he did the unthinkable (at the time), he pushed back against an act of congress and denied their decision defining it as unconstitutional. This action led to the court case: Marbury vs Madison. This court case is what create what is the most important duty of the Supreme Court, Judicial Review. This meant that if the Legislative Branch and or the Executive branch created and or passed a law/act that violated a right, the judicial branch could use Judicial Review to deny the creation or passing of that law/act because it violates the people’s rights. It is the prime directive of the judicial branch to watch over the other branches and acts almost like a watchdog to make sure that the Constitutional rights are not violated by the other branches. It is a complex system that has worked for us for years, but how has this system changed and or remained in today’s modern society?

A Modernized System

    As of 2022, there are a total of nine Supreme Court Justices, and their job is to overview the many writs of certiorari. Certiorari is a plea from the lower courts requesting that the Supreme Court to overview and decide on a specific court case that the lower courts might not have a complete answer for (or simply put the case itself is larger than the lower courts). They receive around 7,000 appeals from the lower courts and because the Supreme Court does not have to accept all of them (nor do they really have the time), after careful reviews, they accept about 100 appeals. While this may seem very small, the Justices do their best to choose the appeals that tackle some of the harder questions that take into question many possible violations of rights and or conflicts between the people and government as well as many other national conflicting topics.

    Once a case is accepted, a stance is chosen by many of the participants in the Supreme Court Case. Following that is the Oral argument. The Oral argument is a debate that gives all the sides thirty minutes to state their position on the matter while simultaneously trying to persuade the other members to join their side. After completing the Oral argument, the Supreme Court Justices met up in what is called a Justice Conference, where the members of the Supreme Court get to speak their mind, ask questions, and even argue certain positions on what should be done. However, this is no middle school debate where everyone is arguing amongst each other. 

    There is a code that everyone follows, and it is that no one is allowed to interrupt one another. Everyone gets to speak at least once before opening the table for conversations. This halts a possible argument from brewing amongst the Justices. This whole process can take several months, but eventually the Justices come to conclusion on what should be done. The opinion is then finalized, and the decision is sent out to the public.

Justice Has Been Served

 

    The Judicial Branch has gone from being the weakest branch of government, to the strongest and most vital part of the government. Its position allows it to observe over the rest of the government and keep our rights in check. Without this branch of government or the powers that it contains, the freedom that we have would no longer be stable and would slowly dissipate. Freedom is only obtained through the implementation of a strong Judicial system.

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Extra Note: 

                                         As of January 2022, the picture above is the current nine Supreme Court Justices.

 

 

Extra! Extra! Read All About It! (Blog Post #1)

 

A scene from the Disney movie "Newsises" released April 10, 1992

    From the time Newsies ran around the street with a satchel full of newspapers singing about how fine of a life they are having, carrying the banner to the people of New York (for my musical lovers out there, you know what I mean). To the digital age, where everyone has access to news all over the world. USA Today states, that 3,000 outlets that call themselves newsrooms in America. Let me repeat that. In America alone there are over 3,000 news outlets alone not including the thousands of other outlets such as blogs, podcasts, and smaller content creators.  It sure puts into perspective just how much information is available to us. Additionally, each of these outlets stand apart from each other (for the most part), by dealing with differing political issues and perspectives, coming from different backgrounds, pleasing their consumers, and wanting to tell their side of the story. It truly can be scary understanding what media is false or disagrees with you and or the masses. Which is why it might be helpful to view other’s favorite media/news outlets to see what you should look for in an outlet. Anytime I want to see what is going on in the world I first turn towards my friends and family, then YouTube, Instagram, New York Times, and finally Entertainment Weekly. 

 

         

   When I am in the unknown about certain news bits or simply want to know what is going on in the world, I turn to the people that I do know, who are in the know (a lot of knows). My family is the first people I turn to when it comes to gaining information. Because both of my parents are in the military, they are up to date on all the need-to-know information when it comes to the government. This has come in handy several times during my Government Class in High School. While I grew up, I sort of adapted similar perspectives on information to that of my parents. So, I know I can always trust them to keep me up to date when I fall behind. Friends are another great way of obtaining all sorts of news. Mostly everyone here at High Point comes from a different town and or state, thus it would be reasonable to believe they all have learned from different news outlets whether it be local or statewide. I remember there was one time where my friend on one side was talking about the major Texas power crisis in 2021, while the friend on the other side was talking to me about the peaceful protests in Okinawa Japan. It truly broadened my perspective. However, one must take this outlet with a grain of salt because its already filtered information. When you ask your friend and or family for the news in certain places or in general, you are asking for what they had seen that caught their attention. This means that you may not be receiving the information you are interested in nor is that information that you do receive correct as the source they retrieved it from is mostly unknown.

 

           

     Now if you want to find a News source on your own, one of the most entertaining outlets that I use is YouTube. When I am not distracted by gaming videos or movies that have been “legally” placed there, I am utilizing this source to obtain updates from all over the world. The greatest thing about YouTube is that it can benefit both visual and auditory learners. Visual learns, which is the category I fall under, need to have a picture or a video to watch (that relates to the topic) while the information is given to them. It helps them better understand the words said along with it. It also shows real world actions rather than just words on a page. YouTube is also just a great way of obtaining updates and information in large chunks in short periods of time. With so many content creators on the platform there are several, who dedicate their channel to only give news updates. This could mean that they have taken several weeks and even months’ worth of information and have compiled a single video to update the viewer. Or they have taken one bit of News and expand on it. Either way it allows the viewer to access News information easily and quickly. Like the previous source of news. Biases and false information can be a sneaky factor that many may not notice, but if you look at the content creator or channel to make sure they are creditable (or at least somewhat) these factors are not as present. Just don’t fall down the rabbit hole of watching a news article about killer whales spotted near the California coast to listening to baby shark for five hours straight…believe me it happens.   

 

 

    Instagram is another news source I use on a weekly bias…or at least have started to use on a weekly bias. I was never a fan of social media; I was always so worried that it would make me addicted or that I would post something I would regret the rest of my life (I was a bit dramatic there…but honestly, I was worried when it came to social media). Which it wasn’t until I was 18 years old and going to college when I receive my first social media/news outlet-Instagram. Because everyone has access to it, all sorts of information can be spread and sent out. While the platform does have censorship, for the most part obtaining local news and countrywide news is easily done. 

 

    New York Times for me is the number one News Outlet for me. To me it contains the most accurate and uncensored information. Not only can you view the political climate of today, but you can obtain information on certain best-selling books, food, and even real estate. It’s crazy that there is such a wide variety on this news outlet. It also makes me feel very fancy when I read the paper version. The information that they provide at least to me is very diverse. It shows differing perspectives on certain topics (not all) thus giving the reader the facts so that they may make a choice on what they believe is right and wrong. This news outlet is liberal, which explains why it is very open to providing differing perspectives. It is over all one of my favorite outlets to use when looking for possible sources for a research paper or just wanting to peruse through the food section and figure out what I want for lunch.

 

 

    The final News outlet I will recommend is a special one too me because of my own interested. Entertainment Weekly. Because I have a strong interest in perusing acting as a career reading about what is going on in the industry whether it be music, tv shows, movies, and award ceremonies, will benefit me in the long run. There are also some interesting articles that I will read to past the time when I am bored such as, why Adam West’s Batman was the best batman…my personal favorite is Lego batman, but I may be in the minority with that opinion.  While it may sound silly, but I feel as though in a way this News source is preparing me for the industry that I want to enter in, which brings me some confidence that I am starting now rather than later.

 

 

While I love these News outlets, it may not be for everyone. That is why you must find what is right for you. There are so many outlets out there, one is bound to pique your interest eventually. And if all fails…you can always become a hermit leaving society for good to live on your own like Henry David Thoreau did…. but I don’t recommend it. Good luck!