Virtual Eternity

Virtual Eternity
Author: Christopher Rogers
Publisher: iUniverse
Total Pages: 401
Release: 2022-02-16
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1663231028

Jonathan Hannah and Maureen Kelly are 24-year-olds struggling with religion, sexuality, and a hypnotic mid-90s virtual-reality game culture. Maureen is a lukewarm, lifelong Catholic, trying to keep her vow of virginity, despite an infuriated fiancé and a pretty best friend. Jonathan is an agnostic womanizer. His conversion story starts when he learns his parents aborted his sister for her kidney cells: he was born instead. At his new career near Miami, a beautiful executive, Lana, seduces him. Lana controls access to Magic Theater, the mysterious games Jonathan tests. Jonathan’s search for authentic reality and purpose intensifies as he explores Lana, girls, 90s-culture, corporations, art, and Catholicism. His journey shifts to the wintry north, through temptations like an erotic ex-lover, his ominous mentor, and the wide gate to eternity. Virtual Eternity combines vivid characters, romance, technological conspiracy, and religious journeys, including Scripture and Tradition sources. It weaves together two transformation stories.

Digital Souls

Digital Souls
Author: Patrick Stokes
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 209
Release: 2021-01-14
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1350139165

Social media is full of dead people. Nobody knows precisely how many Facebook profiles belong to dead users but in 2012 the figure was estimated at 30 million. What do we do with all these digital souls? Can we simply delete them, or do they have a right to persist? Philosophers have been almost entirely silent on the topic, despite their perennial focus on death as a unique dimension of human existence. Until now. Drawing on ongoing philosophical debates, Digital Souls claims that the digital dead are objects that should be treated with loving regard and that we have a moral duty towards. Modern technology helps them to persist in various ways, while also making them vulnerable to new forms of exploitation and abuse. This provocative book explores a range of questions about the nature of death, identity, grief, the moral status of digital remains and the threat posed by AI-driven avatars of dead people. In the digital era, it seems we must all re-learn how to live with the dead.

Virtual Lives

Virtual Lives
Author: James D. Ivory Ph.D.
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Total Pages: 286
Release: 2012-01-06
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 1598845861

This book is the THE source for information on virtual worlds, covering every aspect of this intriguing and fast-changing social practice and the technologies upon which it rests. Virtual Lives: A Reference Handbook describes the history, development, and role of virtual worlds, also known as virtual environments and immersive virtual environments. It provides detailed background about virtual worlds and their societal impact, from early precursors and inspirations to the latest trends and developments. Specifics on user demographics are included, as are descriptions of virtual worlds' functions, discussion of societal concerns and opportunities, and information about relevant research data and key persons and organizations. Although virtual worlds in their current form are a relatively new phenomenon, other online social environments have served as precursors for decades and literary inspirations go back even further. This handbook therefore covers some early developments dating back to the mid-20th century. Its primary focus, however, is on developments since the mid-1990s and especially on the current state and social impact of virtual worlds, including their impact both in the United States and around the world.

House of Eternity

House of Eternity
Author: John K. McDonald
Publisher: Getty Publications
Total Pages: 124
Release: 1996-11-28
Genre: Art
ISBN: 0892364157

Nefertari, the favorite queen of Rameses II, was buried about 3,200 years ago in the most exquisitely decorated tomb in Egypt's Valley of the Queens. Discovered in 1904 by Italian explorer Ernesto Schiaparelli, the tomb had deteriorated to a disastrous extent when emergency consolidation began in 1986. The six-year conservation project of the GCI and the Egyptian Antiquities Organization was completed in 1992. In this fascinating exploration of the tomb, John McDonald takes the reader through each chamber, describing the hieroglyphic messages depicted in the brilliant wall paintings and discussing the images within the context of Egyptian beliefs. He also offers insights into the life of Nefertari, the development and symbolism of royal tombs, and the construction and decoration of the tombs. House of Eternity is illustrated with historic black-and-white images and more recent color photographs that reveal the vibrant beauty of the wall paintings. In November 1995 the tomb was reopened to the public. Because of the potential for damage and deterioration to the fragile wall paintings caused by increased humidity, carbon dioxide, and microbiological activity introduced by visitors to the tomb, the number permitted to enter daily is strictly controlled by the Egyptian authorities. This book results from a desire of the GCI to enrich visitors' experience by providing a detailed descriptive walk-through of the tomb while conveying a strong message regarding the need for conservation and continuous monitoring to ensure the long-term survival of the tomb's paintings. Visitors to the tomb and the armchair traveler alike will find House of Eternity to be an excellent resource for understanding Nefertari's journey to the afterlife and for appreciating the extraordinary depictions of that journey on the walls of Nefertari's tomb.

Virtual Reality

Virtual Reality
Author: Fouad Sabry
Publisher: One Billion Knowledgeable
Total Pages: 328
Release: 2022-07-10
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN:

What Is Virtual Reality The term "virtual reality" (VR) refers to a simulated experience that may either be very similar to or quite dissimilar from the actual world. Virtual reality may be used in a variety of settings, including entertainment, education, and even business. Other separate forms of technology that are similar to virtual reality include augmented reality and mixed reality, which are often collectively referred to as extended reality or XR for short. How You Will Benefit (I) Insights, and validations about the following topics: Chapter 1: Virtual reality Chapter 2: Mixed reality Chapter 3: Head-mounted display Chapter 4: Immersion (virtual reality) Chapter 5: Oculus Rift Chapter 6: Sketchfab Chapter 7: Windows Mixed Reality Chapter 8: HTC Vive Chapter 9: Virtual reality headset Chapter 10: Comparison of virtual reality headsets Chapter 11: Tilt Brush Chapter 12: Foveated rendering Chapter 13: VR positional tracking Chapter 14: Hyper Reality Experience Chapter 15: Virtual reality game Chapter 16: VRChat Chapter 17: Virtual reality applications Chapter 18: Valve Index Chapter 19: Oculus Rift CV1 Chapter 20: TheBlu Chapter 21: NeosVR (II) Answering the public top questions about virtual reality. (III) Real world examples for the usage of virtual reality in many fields. (IV) 17 appendices to explain, briefly, 266 emerging technologies in each industry to have 360-degree full understanding of virtual reality' technologies. Who This Book Is For Professionals, undergraduate and graduate students, enthusiasts, hobbyists, and those who want to go beyond basic knowledge or information for any kind of virtual reality.

Virtual Afterlives

Virtual Afterlives
Author: Candi K. Cann
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
Total Pages: 212
Release: 2014-06-24
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0813145422

For millennia, the rituals of death and remembrance have been fixed by time and location, but in the twenty-first century, grieving has become a virtual phenomenon. Today, the dead live on through social media profiles, memorial websites, and saved voicemails that can be accessed at any time. This dramatic cultural shift has made the physical presence of death secondary to the psychological experience of mourning. Virtual Afterlives investigates emerging popular bereavement traditions. Author Candi K. Cann examines new forms of grieving and evaluates how religion and the funeral industry have both contributed to mourning rituals despite their limited ability to remedy grief. As grieving traditions and locations shift, people are discovering new ways to memorialize their loved ones. Bodiless and spontaneous memorials like those at the sites of the shootings in Aurora and Newtown and the Boston Marathon bombing, as well as roadside memorials, car decals, and tattoos are contributing to a new bereavement language that crosses national boundaries and culture-specific perceptions of death. Examining mourning practices in the United States in comparison to the broader background of practices in Asia and Latin America, Virtual Afterlives seeks to resituate death as a part of life and mourning as a unifying process that helps to create identities and narratives for communities. As technology changes the ways in which we experience death, this engaging study explores the culture of bereavement and the ways in which it, too, is being significantly transformed.

I See You

I See You
Author: Ellen Grabiner
Publisher: McFarland
Total Pages: 255
Release: 2014-01-10
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 0786490276

In the blockbuster film Avatar, science fiction and the technological prowess of director James Cameron meet in a heady concoction that, while visually ravishing, could easily be dismissed as "eye candy." While critics most frequently acclaimed its breakthrough 3-D technology, close scrutiny of the film raises provocative questions about the relationship between mind and body, appearance and reality. It brings into focus the relationships of humans to their technology, their planet, and each other and highlights the nature and potential of film itself. This work explores the theoretical and philosophical issues brought to bear in Avatar, exploring the spaces between human and machine; technology and nature; chick flick and action-adventure; and old-fashioned storytelling and cutting-edge technology. Central to the book's analysis is an examination of the extent to which Avatar melds the seer and the seen, illuminating an alternative visual paradigm. Instructors considering this book for use in a course may request an examination copy here.

Augmented Reality

Augmented Reality
Author: Fouad Sabry
Publisher: One Billion Knowledgeable
Total Pages: 180
Release: 2024-05-14
Genre: Computers
ISBN:

What is Augmented Reality Augmented reality (AR) is an interactive experience that combines the real world and computer-generated content. The content can span multiple sensory modalities, including visual, auditory, haptic, somatosensory and olfactory. AR can be defined as a system that incorporates three basic features: a combination of real and virtual worlds, real-time interaction, and accurate 3D registration of virtual and real objects. The overlaid sensory information can be constructive, or destructive. As such, it is one of the key technologies in the reality-virtuality continuum. How you will benefit (I) Insights, and validations about the following topics: Chapter 1: Augmented reality Chapter 2: Virtual reality Chapter 3: Wearable computer Chapter 4: Computer-mediated reality Chapter 5: Mixed reality Chapter 6: Head-mounted display Chapter 7: Projection augmented model Chapter 8: 3D user interaction Chapter 9: Augmented learning Chapter 10: Smartglasses (II) Answering the public top questions about augmented reality. (III) Real world examples for the usage of augmented reality in many fields. Who this book is for Professionals, undergraduate and graduate students, enthusiasts, hobbyists, and those who want to go beyond basic knowledge or information for any kind of Augmented Reality.

Eternity's Edge

Eternity's Edge
Author: Bryan Davis
Publisher: Zondervan
Total Pages: 370
Release: 2009-05-26
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 0310567335

This fast-paced adventure fantasy trilogy starts with murder and leads teenagers Nathan and Kelly out of their once-familiar world as they struggle to find answers to the tragedy. A mysterious mirror with phantom images, a camera that takes pictures of things they can't see, and a violin that unlocks unrecognizable voices ... each enigma takes the teens further into an alternate universe where nothing is as it seems. Find out what happens when good battles evil in an alternate universe Interfinity is imminent. In this second book in the Echoes from the Edge series, the merging of Earth and its parallel dimensions means one thing to Nathan Shepherd---he must rescue his parents while attempting to save his world and others. But signs foretell the impending collapse of the cosmos. Nathan and his friend Kelly watch the night sky transform into a giant mirror, as stars are replaced by scattered reflections of Earth. The teens are not the only ones on a mission. Mictar, a dimensional stalker who consumes the life energy of his victims, fights to control the universe---a universe Nathan knows belongs to God. Journeying through dimensional realities, Nathan and Kelly must draw on their God-given gifts of wisdom and courage and the help of faithful friends, as they battle Mictar for lives and worlds sliding toward the edge of destruction.

Unimaginable Bodies

Unimaginable Bodies
Author: Anna Catherine Hickey-Moody
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 119
Release: 2009-01-01
Genre: Education
ISBN: 9087908555

Unimaginable Bodies radically resituates academic discussions of intellectual disability. Through building relationships between philosophy, cultural studies and communities of integrated dance theatre practice, Anna Hickey-Moody argues that dance theatre devised with and performed by young people with and without intellectual disability, can reframe the ways in which bodies with intellectual disability are known. This proposition is considered in terms of classic philosophical ideas of how we think the mind and body, as Hickey-Moody argues that dance theatre performed by young people with and without intellectual disability creates a context in which the intellectually disabled body is understood in terms other than those that pre-suppose a Cartesian mind-body dualism. Taking up the writings of Spinoza and Deleuze and Guattari, Hickey-Moody critiques aspects of medical discourses of intellectual disability, arguing that Cartesian methods for thinking about the body are recreated within these discourses. Further, she shows that Cartesian ways of conceiving corporeality can be traced through select studies of the social construction of intellectual disability. The argument for theorising corporeality and embodied knowledge that Hickey-Moody constructs is a philosophical interpretation of the processes of knowledge production and subjectification that occur in integrated dance theatre. Knowledge produced within integrated dance theatre is translated into thought in order to explore the affective nature of performance texts. This book is essential reading for those interested in theories of embodiment, disability studies and dance. Cover Image: Ziggy Kuster, Gigibori: Invaders of the soul, Photography David Wilson ã Restless Dance Company