“How can virtual technology be applied to the practice of print?”;
Thinking about the word “print” summons up visions of words on paper. Dictionary.com defines print as: “to produce (a text, picture, etc.) by applying inked types, plates, blocks, or the like, to paper or other material either by direct pressure or indirectly by offsetting an image onto an intermediate roller.” While oxford dictionary defines it as: “Produce (books, newspapers, magazines, etc.), especially in large quantities, by a mechanical process involving the transfer of text, images, or designs to paper.”
How can virtual technology be applied to the practice of print? Is it even possible? At first thought it would be considered wholly and completely redundant. Like using Virtual reality technology to be in a virtual living room and watching a virtual television. But perhaps it can be applied in some other way. In what way you ask? That is what we are here to find out. There exist very little in the area however. If anything, virtual books and newspapers are simply those exact things but on the internet. That is no longer a trend; it is firmly solidified in society now. At first glance, it seems that common wisdom dictates that the aforementioned redundancy exists. That increases the possibility of a trend in this field even further. Not to say that it has never been attempted.
[1][2]At the 2012 electronic entertainment expo, Sony had a press conference where they revealed a peripheral for the Playstation 3 video game console called Wonderbook. It is an augmented reality book which is designed to be used in conjunction with the PlayStation Move and PlayStation Eye. The user holds a physical book-like object and stories come to life as the software displays content on the PlayStation 3's screen.
[3][4][5]The first “book” to be released for this device was “Book of Spells”. Currently on metacritic.com it is holding at a score of 72 out 100 based on 39 critics and 6.2 out of 10 from the user ratings. According to Vgchartz.com it has sold 0.68 million units as of 28th of November, 2015. In total 4 books have been released for this product; along with the final one being released November 12th, 2013. In 2012 BBC and Disney reported on potential projects being developed, but nothing has been heard on the subject ever since. With the release of the Playstation 4 along with a lack of backwards compatibility for the product, the future of the wonderbook is in jeopardy. This Results in the possibility of this being trend virtually impossible.
[6][7]Dr. Joan-Francesc Fondevila-Gascón published an articles entitled “Public Relations and the use of Interactivity in Digital Press and in Social Media: a Comparative Analysis” on Academia.edu where it was said: “Within the framework of 3.0 Internet, Pinterest is defined mainly in communicative terms. It should, however, be followed closely, as it has the potential in the near future to generate stronger e-commerce engagement with consumers. Moreover, e-commerce communications should not be seen as isolated from social media, and Pinterest in particular has made significant headway in this regard.” This suggests an upcoming trend of virtual stores, specifically virtual book stores to be in relation to this topic. With the emergence of virtual reality, such a trend is highly conceivable. Joanna Penn of thebookseller.com mentions various possibilities of a VR bookstore, for example: “Infinite stock with a display that changes when the same customer re-enters, meaning they are exposed to more product” and “Algorithms tailored to present people with new books, or books related to what they have read before and might like next” and much more.
It goes without saying that this trend is only becoming a possibility due to the recent development into virtual reality technology. Of course it has been attempted before and it has been a dream for a long time, but only now does the technology exist to make it feasible, affordable and realistic enough to satisfy the dream.
[8]The first and obvious pro of this trend is the ability to shop for books as if you are in a real store but from the comfort of one’s home; while the obvious con would be the further decline in traditional brick and mortar stores. virtual-reality.weebly.com offers a fairly good and concise list of the pros and cons of VR technology which I will now apply to the chosen trend, where it makes sense.
Pro 1. VR redefines the idea of communication, expanding it from people you know in real life to anyone connected to the internet. This means that relationships will begin to be formed more based off interests than general location
It goes without saying that you can visit the virtual bookstore either by yourself, with friends or with anyone else occupying a common server.
Con 1. Those who do not have access or cannot afford this technology will be left out. Could further separate social classes in Information Age based societies.
Coupled with the inevitable decrease in brick and mortar store could prove to be devastating to the remaining populous.
Pro 2. Many different field can use VR to train people in a way that would usually put them at risk. This is used most notably in the fields of medicine, law enforcement, architecture and aviation.
Not that training someone to be a virtual clerk would be dangerous, quite the opposite. Simply walking out ones door brings with it an inherent risk of danger.
Con 2. Communication using this technology would be susceptible to deception.
Almost in reply to the previous point, going online runs the inherent risk of hacking attempts. Same goes to connecting to server and buying books with your credit card with a service that you perceive to be a trustworthy.
Pro 3. Those who are not able to fully experience reality, such as disabled people, could explore the Virtual World and still experience a full life.
This one speaks for itself.
Con 3. Due to the fast paced development of Virtual Reality and online worlds, there is a lack of laws regarding these worlds. Users can say and do things in these worlds that is illegal in reality. Also, users may be less inhibited than in real life due to a sense of anonymity, and may act in a way that is socially unacceptable.
This point is also quite self-evident. With this problem already being widespread today.
[9][10]The technology of virtual reality itself is a definite megatrend in the sense of technological change, it is unavoidable. The idea of a virtual bookstore or simply stores will be at most macro trend and at least micro trends. It has the potential to become the norm, but not right away and not everyone will be able to participate. As Stan Mack of Demand Media says, “A macro trend is a large-scale, sustained shift…” So the virtual stores will need to not only establish but stand the test of time and build up to become not necessarily the norm, but have a significantly strong following; like ordering a pizza instead of going out to get one or making one at home.
[11]Society both east and west have fantasized or at least thought of the possibilities of virtual reality. With internet culture probably being the individuals who would be the most excited. Various publications have speculated that many might end up considering the virtual world at least as important as the real world. For example the book by Steve Woolgar “Virtual Society?: Technology, Cyberbole, Reality.” Saying that: “With the onset of virtuality it was envisaged that people would spend as much, if not more time in an imaginary virtual world as in their real world.” The book envisions a new form of society, the virtual society. A virtual bookstore will simply become a byproduct of that, but at the same time be one of the factors that result in this new society. It is not that the cyber culture will become the virtual culture. A divide between the two is just as possible as a blurring of the two and becoming one. This could inevitably result in what one could call the digitized culture. Neither cyber nor virtual, yet both at once into one. A group of people that remain in the imaginary world for such a long period of time that they might as well be computer programs themselves. But that may be simple speculation, but really what isn’t in this report? We are attempting to predict the future.