| SLIDE ONE [IMAGE]
Hello everyone and thank you for
coming to hear me today. My name is
Sitearm Madonna.
The title of this talk is Mr.
Square Visits Virtual Reality so I'd
like to introduce you to my friend
here, Mr. Square.
SKETCH ONE [IMAGE]
Mr. Square is going to help us
begin to understand the fourth
dimension of virtual reality.
The fourth dimension is neither
a rock group nor as familiar a
concept as it could be, despite the
fact that it was first formally
defined, a century ago, as
"time."
PHOTO ONE [IMAGE]
For example, here we see a young
dancer who has a three dimensional
body moving through time, as the
camera follows her with a strobe
light.
Just to make this clear - her
BODY is in three dimensions but it
moves through TIME AS A FOURTH
DIMENSION. This concept was invented
in 1908.
SKETCH FIVE [IMAGE]
Now the fourth dimension has also
been defined as "another
direction of space."
Here for example we see Mr.
Square progressing from ZERO
DIMENSIONS, a point, to ONE
DIMENSION, a line, to TWO
DIMENSIONS, a square, and on up to -
get this - FOUR SPATIAL DIMENSIONS,
a tesseract.
Or as it's more
popularly known, a "Thingie."
Even scientists have a hard time
understanding this one.
So
is the fourth dimension time? Or is
it space?
Well, the short answer is,
"hahahaha" don't you wish
it was that simple! They're both
right and they're both wrong.
They're technically ACCURATE but
they're NOT COMPLETE.
The
fourth dimension is not something we
can yet fully imagine, but it IS
something that we can think
about. And it is in thinking about
it that we will gain power.
For our purposes,
the fourth dimension will be used as
a rallying point for opening up our
thinking.
So our goals today are to
see, from another dimension, what is
currently confusing us; to gain new
perspectives and to make new
connections.
To give us new POWERS
in dealing with reality - or in this
case, with virtual reality.
SKETCH TWO [IMAGE]
From the world of children's
humor, what is this image?
[BRIEF RESPONSES]
That's right! It's a cowboy
riding a bicycle!
SKETCH THREE [IMAGE]
And what is this image?
[BRIEF RESPONSES]
That's right! It's Miss America taking a dive into the swimming
pool!
ELABORATION
What do these two images have in
common, besides tacky humor? DON'T
ANSWER YET! - that was a rhetorical
question.
They are images in 2D, Two
Dimensions, that we suddenly
perceive in 3D, Three Dimensions,
when we hear the punch lines.
SO... something that made NO
SENSE in 2D, suddenly makes sense
when looked at from a NEW DIMENSION.
And in this case the new dimension
was 3D.
So this is the start of our
Odyssey To The World In 4D. We are
going to TRY to think about the
fourth dimension, when all our
experience to date has been in the
real three dimensions.
We are going
to "sneak up" on the
Fourth Dimension of Virtual Reality by looking at
examples of 3D until we can go
beyond.
SKETCH FOUR [IMAGE]
Now that you've got the idea,
what is this image?
[BRIEF RESPONSES]
That's right! It's an elephant
floating on its back in a swimming
pool.
AN ANCIENT PARABLE
Speaking of elephants. Who here has heard of The Blind
Men And The Elephant?
[BRIEF RESPONSES]
Well you're going to hear
it again!
DRAWING ONE [IMAGE]
So this king with a really NASTY
sense of humor says to his henchmen, "Bring
me some blind men and let them be shown
an
elephant, and let them then come to me
thereafter, and tell me, what it is
that an elephant is."
So these blind men feel the
elephant, each man a different part,
and they say to the king:
Lo! The elephant is like unto a
tree (this is the one who felt the
legs)
Lo! The elephant is like unto a
fan (this is the one who felt the
ears)
Lo! The elephant is like unto a
spear (this is the one who felt the
tusks)
Lo! The elephant is like unto a
snake (this is the one who felt
the... TRUNK)
Now of course the king had a good
laugh over this, until his subjects evicted him
for a kinder king -
but that's another story.
But the POINT is... the POINT is...
all of the blind men were ACCURATE
about the parts they described, but
NONE of them were complete about the
whole thing.
Get it? They could only see PART
of the whole picture.
SKETCH FIVE [IMAGE]
And THAT IS THE POINT of today's
talk - each of us is ACCURATE about
the parts of virtual reality that we
see, but NONE of us is yet
seeing the whole thing, the whole
picture.
And that is our goal today - to
see that we are NOT SEEING the whole
picture.
Because once we realize we are
NOT SEEING the whole picture, it
lets us look again and BEGIN to be able to
see, if not the whole picture, at
least MORE of the picture.
Are you with me yet? Cos
my talk is not done and there's more
to go.
But before I continue let's have some feedback.
Does
anyone here agree that there are
dimensions of virtual reality that
have NOT yet been fully explored or
realized, and if so, can you STATE
what those are?
[DISCUSSION]
SKETCH SIX [IMAGE]
Now we are going to "sneak up" on
the fourth dimension by looking at
virtual reality
applications in business, music,
tourism, arts.
Now remember - what we think we
already know about virtual reality
may be TECHNICALLY
ACCURATE but it is NOT COMPLETE. So
lets open up our minds and just jump
in.
What is one example of BUSINESS
in virtual reality?
[BRIEF DISCUSSION]
What is one example of MUSIC in
virtual reality?
[BRIEF DISCUSSION]
What is one example of TOURISM?
[BRIEF DISCUSSION]
What is one example of ARTS?
[BRIEF DISCUSSION]
Can anyone here say, in any of
these areas, if there have been any
outstanding successes to date, and
if so, what they are?
[DISCUSSION]
SKETCH SEVEN [IMAGE]
Now I am sure some of you have
realized that my choice of
applications is rather limited. So
what other applications of virtual
reality have we missed?
[DISCUSSION]
You are all right, of course. Or
rather, we are all still technically
accurate.
But does anyone here yet
think we are seeing the whole
picture? DON'T ANSWER YET! That
was another rhetorical question.
GOING FOR THE GOLD
Here's what we want to know...
WHAT IS THE COMMON ELEMENT that
unifies these five or more
applications of virtual reality?
How do BUSINESS and MUSIC tie
together both in real life and
virtual life?
How do TOURISM and ARTS tie
together both in real life and
virtual life?
Does anyone here have an insight
on the common factors of success in
these areas, and if so can they
state some of them now?
[DISCUSSION]
[FURTHER DISCUSSION]
WRAP UP
Ack! I see by the prompting of
my moderator that I need to begin to
wrap this up.
Therefore I am giving you this
OFFICIAL PRESENTATION FEEDBACK
survey in chat. PLEASE TYPE YOUR
ANSWERS in public chat.
1. Has this presentation
intrigued you, Yes, No, Maybe?
2. Has this presentation opened
up your thinking about virtual
reality, Yes, No, Maybe?
3. Do You Like Olives, Yes, No
Maybe?
4. OK, OK, forget the Olives -
have you at least been AMUSED by
this presentation, Yes, No, Maybe?
5. As a result of this
presentation are you now likely to eat
more olives, Yes, No, Maybe?
And with that, I thank you VERY
much for your attendance and
participation and sticking with me
to the end of today's show.
My name is Sitearm Madonna and
you can find out more about me at
SITERMA.COM
Cheers!
[END]
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