From: Miriam English (miriam_at_werple.net.au)
Date: 20 August 1999
On the other hand it could inject a little sanity because done properly it
could actually avoid massacres. The military people doing the killing stuff
could be trained more effectively not to confuse bystanders with others
doing killing stuff. It could actually be a limited good.
I have long felt that VR is a continuation of the widening of people's experience brought about through snail-mail, telephones and cheap transport. As people come to understand that the people "over there" are really the same as us, even if they look and dress funny, and strike up friendships with them, then they are much less prone to condone wholesale slaughter. Even "surgical strikes" (whatever they are) become problematic if one of your best friends lives in the village they are going to "take out". Now I don't have much (if any) input into the military machine, but if the people who do have that input have made friends with people all over the planet, then they are going to be that much more careful about their decisions. And if you have little faith in *their* inherent humanity, then consider their situation if they know that a large part of the public have close friends in them thar hills... the ones we is gonna bomb the shit outa... :-) You could hear the sound of knees knocking together in the corridors of power, just at the thought of such a thing.
If the storytellers engaged by the military do their job really well they could get a feeling of humanity coming through the characters. We can write very poignant characters into text on a page... it should be possible to do with VR. We really need to get involved in this to try and steer it in a human direction... Think of it as diverting funds from the killing machine to the next generation of VR for humane purposes. :-)
Best wishes,
At 08:03 19/08/99 -0500, Bullard, Claude L (Len) wrote:
>They did a bit on this on NPR this morning. They are stressing
>the construction of *characters* which will drive the simulation because
>of their interaction, eg, the starving child that doesn't speak english,
>the nosy reporter asking sensitive questions, and so on. The
>entertainment side of the deal wants to reuse whatever is developed
>in their movies and interactive works, so the line between the
>real and the fictional blurs a bit more.
>
>Anyone see the danger here? Stereotypes are characterizations
>of a shallow viewpoint that prompt quick thoughtless action.
>
>If you can make their heart beat faster, can
>you make their judgement superior? Can we say MyLai?
>
>Ah well... funding for SGI and USC.
>
>Len
>clbullar_at_ingr.com
>
>Ekam sat.h, Vipraah bahudhaa vadanti.
>Daamyata. Datta. Dayadhvam.h
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Jed Hartman [SMTP:logos_at_kith.org]
>> Sent: Wednesday, August 18, 1999 2:02 PM
>> To: vrml-lit-list_at_kith.org
>> Subject: Army & entertainment collaborate on VR
>>
>>
>> Seems the army wants ultra-realistic simulations (presumably more so than
>> the existing simulators). The interesting things to me here are (a) that
>> they specifically mention storytelling as a skill they want to bring into
>> the mix, and (b) they want to be able to provide guided tours of foreign
>> places, complete with introductions to customs/etc -- not just combat
>> simulation.
>>
>> http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/19990818/pl/army_hollywood_1.html
>>
>
>
>
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