# Veelox **April 27th, 2023**  Sixteen years ago was when the first <a href="https://youtu.be/MnrJzXM7a6o?t=126" class="anchor-highlight">iPhone</a> was unveiled. It’s difficult to comprehend how much technology has evolved since then, from electric cars, blockchain, 3D printing, and artificial intelligence, to virtual reality, which is now being used in fields like gaming, healthcare, and education. The technological advancements we’ve seen over the years have been incredible, but they still haven’t provided me with that “feeling”. This was until I watched the WWDC23 conference by Apple. I’ve always been drawn to things that relate to fantasy, sci-fi, and futurism, so it’s only natural that the unveiling of Apple's new <a href="https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=TX9qSaGXFyg&pp=ygUVQXBwbGUgdW52ZWlscyBnbGFzc2Vz" class="anchor-highlight">Augmented Reality (AR)</a> hardware piqued my interest. I think the one of the craziest aspects about technology is the fact that all of the unique innovations we use today, will be obsolete within a few months’ time. After watching Apple present their new augmented reality (AR) headset, scenes from Sword Art Online started playing in my head. If you’ve read any of my previous posts, then you’ve probably noticed how often I mention SAO. After observing many of the new technological breakthroughs we've witnessed in the AR sector alone, it's starting to feel like AR technology is heading in that direction. Keeping in mind how quick technology evolves, we could possibly have better technology in a 10-15 year time frame than the tech they have in SAO. Sidenote: I’m not sure if it’s from all of the sci-if movies and books I’ve read, but I’ve always felt as if <a href="https://twitter.com/vaxzem/status/1605007883074260992?s=46" class="anchor-highlight">keyboards are relics of the past</a> that we haven’t discarded because there isn’t an ideal interface to replace them. Yet. There’s an SAO movie called <em>Ordinal Scale</em> where the players use a lightweight wearable hardware platform called “Augma” to immerse themselves in the game. The networking component of the Augma has the capability to span across entire cities. Augma also has the ability to overlay reality with the virtual and auditory components of virtual reality (VR) as well. In the movie, the AR technology is advanced enough to provide players with the choice of wearing different clothing once they slip the technology on. Players can even <em>feel</em> themselves being attacked during in-game battles. I think this aspect of AR & VR will be a key selling point in the years to come, especially once prices come down to an affordable level. Going back a little further, we’re at the Aincrad arc of SAO. If I remember correctly, this is season one. A technology exists that allows players to immerse themselves in the game by wearing a headsets and shouting the command “link start!”. This technology seemed to lean more towards VR than AR, but the gist of season one is that once players are in the game, they’re unable to logout by choice. The ultimatum they’re forced to abide by is to either clear all one-hundred levels of the game, or die in real life. They had no other option but to reach the final level. Many players stopped attempting to clear the levels and decided to settle down on a specific floor with friends, with some starting families. I noticed that there were tons of people who found more enjoyment living in VR than in their real lives. They had the ability to present themselves as they pleased without fear of judgment from other people. Even after Kirito (the main character of SAO) cleared all the levels and made it possible for everyone to log out safely, people still decided to go back. After being forced to live in virtual reality for two years, you'd assume players would want absolutely nothing to do with the technology anymore, but that wasn't the case. I've been using the internet for as long as I can remember. I used to enjoy playing outside with my friends when I was younger, but as time went on, I started going out less and spending more time online. Maybe this is a natural part of growing up and becoming an adult, or maybe it's due to the progression of technology and everything becoming more virtual. Or maybe, it's a mix of both. I admire the progress technology has made so far, but the pessimist in me can't help but think that humans are on the verge of opening Pandora's box. I doubt technological progress will see a halt in our lifetime unless we experience a black swan event. Everything will continue to iterate, pushing the boundaries of what we thought possible. The first iPhone was unveiled sixteen years ago. Compare the iPhone models from back then to the iPhone models we have now. It's mind-blowing to think about all of the different features we have in our phones now. There are features in the iPhones of today that most people don't even know exist. In sixteen years, what kind of features will an augmented reality headset have? What features will virtual reality headsets have? Will life be indistinguishable from virtual reality? There are two specific books that I’ve read in my life that constantly make me think about these questions from time to time. The first one I read sometime in middle school. It was from a book series called Bobby Pendragon, which is still my favorite book series to date. The second book was introduced to me in my high school English class. It was called The Pedestrian. “The Pedestrian” depicts a dystopian future where technology has completely dominated society, further isolating people and removing human connections. The protagonist is a man by the name of Leonard Mead. He goes on nightly strolls through his neighborhood which, have become routine for him. These strolls allow him to step outside the comfort of his home and observe the world around him. While Leonard walks through his neighborhood, he notices the lights from the televisions inside the dimly lit homes of his neighbors. They all seem to be obsessed with their technology. As he continues walking, he’s eventually stopped by a robotic police car that decides to question him. It doesn’t understand why he takes these nightly strolls when he could be inside his home glued to his television like everyone else. He responded to the robotic police car and made it known that he didn’t own a television. The robotic police car eventually decided that his answers seemed abnormal, and made the decision to arrest him in order to send him to a facility for regressive tendencies. As Leonard sat in the backseat of the police car, they drove through his neighborhood and passed by different houses. One of the houses they passed by had extremely bright lights and seemed to stand out from the rest. Leonard informed the robot that his house was the brightly lit one, but he didn’t receive an answer. It continued driving, gliding past the deserted sidewalks. In book four of the Bobby Pendragon series, Bobby visits a world/territory called Veelox. He finds himself in a city by the name of Rubic City that had advanced transportation systems and hovercrafts flying throughout the city. Despite how beautiful and technologically advanced, it was not without faults. As Bobby roamed the streets of Rubic City, he noticed how deserted they were. People weren’t on the streets socializing with each other; instead, they were inside their own “cubicles” hooked up to a machine called Lifelight. The city’s inhabitants were extremely reliant on this Lifelight technology. It allowed them to live out their fantasies in a virtual world and provided them with an escape from reality. Some people decided to give up living in the real world all together and permanently live in their own virtual worlds. The over-dependence on Lifelight created a personal disconnection amongst the city’s inhabitants. These are books that I still think about from time to time as technology progresses. Both books left me with a warning in mind. A warning that served as a caution about the potential dangers of prioritizing technology over authentic human interactions. Technology will continue to iterate upon itself as it always does. But, what happens you can live your life in a SIMS-like environment with your friends that allows you to create your own fantasy? Activities are always more enjoyable with other people, right? What happens when people decide to stop participating in reality and make the decision to slip on their headsets to live out their fantasies? Maybe I’m overthinking all of this, but what happens when the lines between reality and virtual reality become blurred?