In this episode we talk to guest Jason Ganz of Agora VR. You may know Jason from his role as a moderator on the Futurology subreddit and as a co-host on the Futurology podcast. He’s an enthusiastic VR supporter and we had a wide-ranging, informative conversation we think you are going to find fascinating. We cover some of the newest advances in the rapidly exploding VR space, including the Oculus rift and the Google Cardboard project, omnidirectional treadmills, haptics, new sensors from Leap Motion and the new fibre-optic in-eye monitor being developed by Magic Leap. We discuss the obvious upsides to better VR technology as well as the ways ephemeralizing experiences might add to technological unemployment and superstar economic effects. We also touch on age-old media canards like addiction and problems with realistic violence, and whether the coming VR multiverse is more likely to be an open-source competitive paradise or a nightmare walled-garden “Zuckerverse.”
Relevant Links
- Agora VR
- Futurology Podcast
- Google Cardboard | DodoCase
- Magic Leap | Leap Motion | Control VR | Jaunt VR
- Article: Legal Heroin: Is Virtual Reality Our Next Hard Drug
- Review the Future podcast 005: Are We Addicted to Technology?
- Wikipedia on Presence
- Virtuix Omni Omnidirectional Treadmill
- Thought Infection article: Real Growth from Virtual Economies
- Novel: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
- Novel: The Quantum Thief by Hannu Rajaniemi