Get a life? Soon it will be that simple, says Kevin Kelly. Five years from now, Kelly anticipates that most of us will have a physical reality and a virtual one – and the second will be as social and kinetic as the first.

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Intro

Have you ever tried spending time in virtual reality? Why? Why not?

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Watch

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Glossary

• prominent – important; famous
• gear – equipment or apparatus that is used for a particular purpose
• nauseous –  feeling inclined to vomit
• primeval – (of emotion or behaviour) strongly instinctive and unreasoning
• calisthenic – gymnastic exercises designed to develop physical health and vigor, usually performed with little or no special apparatus
• paramount – more important than anything else; supreme
• loom – a vague and often exaggerated first appearance of an object seen in darkness or fog, especially at sea

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Think about it

Answer the questions below. Pause at times indicated in brackets.

• What do the terms VR and MR refer to? What are the differences between the two? (0:41)
• How does the human brain perceive VR, as opposed to “normal” reality? (1:50)
• What, according to Kevin Kelly, is the best part of the VR experince? Why? (3:07)
• What kind of economy will flourish around VR? (4:13)
• What will our lives look like with the advent of VR?
• What do you think about it?

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Practice makes perfect

Fill in the blank spaces with the correct forms of the words in capital letters.

Virtual reality (VR) typically refers to computer technologies that use software to ________ GENERATION the ________ REALITY images, sounds and other ________ SENSE that replicate a real environment (or create an ________ IMAGINE setting), and simulate a user’s physical ________ PRESENT in this environment. VR has been defined as “…a realistic and ________ IMMERSE simulation of a three-dimensional environment, created using ________ INTERACT software and hardware, and experienced or controlled by ________ MOVE of the body” or as an “immersive, interactive experience generated by a computer”.

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Put the words in bold back where they belong.

front     –    about    –    either    –    include     –    depicted     –     around 

A person using virtual reality equipment is typically able to “look ________” the artificial world, move ________ in it and interact with features or items that are ________ on a screen or in goggles. Most 2016-era virtual realities are displayed ________ on a computer monitor, a projector screen, or with a virtual reality headset (also called head-mounted display or HMD). HMDs typically take the form of head-mounted goggles with a screen in ________ of the eyes. Programs may ________ audio and sounds through speakers or headphones.

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Fill in the blank spaces with the missing words. Use ONE word per blank space.

Advanced haptic systems in ________ 2010s may include tactile information, generally known ________ force feedback in medical, video gaming and military training applications. Some VR systems used ________ video games can transmit vibrations and other sensations ________ the user via the game controller. Virtual reality also refers to remote communication environments ________ provide a virtual presence of users with through telepresence and telexistence or ________ use of a virtual artifact (VA). The immersive environment can be similar ________ the real world ________ order to create a lifelike experience or it can differ significantly ________ reality where gamers can use fictional powers.

Source: Wikipedia, click here for answers

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Explore it more

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