This document discusses the evolution of virtual and augmented reality technologies from early science fiction works like Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash to current applications. It covers topics like virtual worlds in Snow Crash and Second Life, virtual and augmented reality interfaces on the virtuality continuum, and applications of augmented reality in fields like manufacturing and consumer mobile devices. The document references key thinkers in the development of these technologies like Stephenson, William Gibson, and Ronald Azuma.

1. From Snow Crash to Augmented Reality
Jing Huang

2. Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
The Second Life
Virtual Reality
Mixed Reality
Augmented Reality

3. Neal Stephenson
science fiction
historical fiction
Cyberpunk
postcyberpunk

4. Snow Crash (1992)
Genre(s) :
Science fiction
Cyberpunk
Postcyberpunk

5. Defining Cyberpunk
It is a science fiction genre noted for its
focus on "high tech and low life".
Cyberpunk plots often center on a conflict
among hackers, artificial intelligences, and
megacorporations, and tend to be set in a
near-future Earth.
-----Wikipedia

6. Postcyberpunk
“ typical postcyberpunk stories continue the
focus on a ubiquitous datasphere of
computerized information and cybernetic
augmentation of the human body, but
without the assumption of dystopia.”
-----Wikipedia

7. William Gibson
 “the father of Cyberpunk”
 the rise of reality television
 establishing the
conceptual foundations for
the rapid growth of virtual
environments such as
video games and the Web
 Neuromancer (1984)

8. “People shouldn't look at science fiction
like they look at "real" fiction. They
shouldn't expect that this is what the future
is going to look like. Science fiction
authors are sort of charlatans; we come
up with a few ideas and we make a living
off of that.”
--------William Gibson

9. Discussion
Do you agree with William Gibson’s idea
about science fiction?
If they agree with Gibson, do they think
science fiction is only bluff, a lie? or it is
something that worth?
What is your attitude towards science
fiction ?

10. Plot Summary of Snow Crash
The story takes place in a semi-America of
the future, where corporatization,
franchising, and the economy in general
have spun wildly out of control.

11. Plot summary
Hiroaki (Hiro)
in reality
 half-black
 half-Korean
 pizza delivery man
in the Metaverse
 warrior prince
 Swordsman
 hacker

12. Invented Words in Snow Crash
Avatar:
“The people are pieces of software called
avatars” (Stephenson, 1992, p.33).
Metaverse:
“They are the audiovisual bodies that people
use to communicate with each other in the
Metaverse” (Stephenson, 1992, p.33).

13. The Metaphor of the Real World
The Metaverse is a 3-D virtual universe
online, where humans, as avatars,
interact with each other.

14. A Review and a Tribute of Snow Crash
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdQc8uNW
Neal Stephenson’s prediction in Snow
Crash has been partially achieved.

15. Second Life

16. http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=01OSKJwXuDM&feature=related

17. Do you have a avatar in Second Life or in
some other virtual world?
why do you think people like this alternative
universe?
why do they build new online identities?
If a teacher can set up a class in 2nd Life, to
overcome distance, is it useful? Or still is it just
a game?

18. Avatar
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v
=d1_JBMrrYw8

19. Virtual Reality
“Virtual reality (VR) is a technology which
allows a user to interact with a computer-
simulated environment, whether that
environment is a simulation of the real
world or an imaginary world.”
Wikipedia

20. Testers Wanted - Nintendo Virtual
Reality
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=9xGJNQZ3wCA

21. Mixed Reality
“Mixed reality (MR) refers to the merging
of real and virtual worlds to produce new
environments and visualisations where
physical and digital objects co-exist and
interact in real time. A mix of reality
includes augmented reality, augmented
virtuality and virtual reality.”
Wikipedia

22. Mixed Reality
Figure 1: Simplified representation of a “virtuality
continuum” (Paul Milgram &Fumio Kishino,1994).

23. Constitution of MR Interfaces
1. Monitor based (non-immersive) video displays
2. Video displays as in Class 1, but using
immersive head-mounted displays (HMD's),
rather than “window-on-the-world” monitors.
3. HMD's equipped with a see-through capability

24. Constitution of MR Interfaces
4. Same as 3, but using video, rather than optical,
viewing of the "outside" world.
5. Completely graphic display environments
6. Completely graphic but partially immersive
environments
---- Paul Milgram &Fumio
Kishino,1994.

25. Augmented reality
“Augmented reality (AR) is a term for a
live direct or indirect view of a physical
real-world environment whose elements
are merged with (or augmented by) virtual
computer-generated imagery - creating a
mixed reality.”
Wikipedia

26. Augmented Reality
“Augmented reality refers to a situation in
which the goal is to supplement a user’s
perception of the real world through the
addition of virtual objects.”
------- Ronald Azuma (1997)

27. Augmented Reality Game
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWNi0ly0TU
Augmented Reality over time...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v
=xEQ9s8PRwW8

28. Applications of Augmented Reality
Military
--- AR technology has currently experienced
the most widespread use.
Example:
RBS Complex
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=p0oWSeqes1M

29. Applications of Augmented Reality
Manufacturing / repair
Example:
BMW augmented reality
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=P9KPJlA5yds

30. Applications of Augmented Reality
Using consumer cell phones
 Layar, worlds first mobile Augmented Reality
browser
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b64_16K2e08

31. Discussion
Privacy Issue
Does mobile Augmented Reality browser
affects people's private life?

32. Augmented Reality over time...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEQ9s8PRw
AR Blurs the line of what is real and what
is not.
Real world is enhanced with the help of
AR.

33. Challenge
To what extend can we replace the
physical sources by virtual sources using
the technology, and still endue the same
perceptual, cognitive, the emotional
experience that we have on the real world
condition.

34. References
 Augmented reality. (2009). Retrieved October 18, 2009, from http://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augmented_reality
 Mixed reality. (2009). Retrieved October 18, 2009, from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mixed_reality
 Neal Stephenson. (1992). Snow Crash, ROC: London, pp.33-41.
 Paul Milgram & Fumio Kishino. (1994).A TAXONOMY OF MIXED REALITY
VISUAL DISPLAYS. Retrieved October 18, 2009, from
http://web.cs.wpi.edu/~gogo/hive/papers/Milgram_IEICE_1994.pdf
 Ronald Azuma. (1997) “A Survey of Augmented Reality”, Presence:
Teleoperators and Virtual Environments, 6(4): 335-385.
 Tracy Seneca. (1994). The Power of Language in Snow Crash and Babel
17. Impact of New Information Technologies. Retrieved October 18, 2009,
from
http://besser.tsoa.nyu.edu/impact/f93/students/tracy/tracy_midterm.html
 Virtual reality. (2009). Retrieved October 18, 2009, from http://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_reality
 William Gibson. (n.d). Retrieved October 18, 2009, from
http://www.levity.com/corduroy/gibson.htm