Today we have two improbable virtual realities, each more mind-blowing than the last.
The first is Walden:The Videogame (probably not the actual title). This virtual simulation of Henry Thoreau’s book of the same name, wherein he lived in the woods to escape from too-busy society, has stirred up a predictably snarky/cranky reaction.
But I would play it. I also read books and go out of doors from time to time. They are not mutually exclusive, snark notwithstanding.
Next up: 2Pac, the virtual personality, and others to come. The age of the virtual person may be upon us. Let me be the first to point out that The Onion saw this coming a mile away.
Roger Ebert, whose specially-developed artificial voice software is discussed in the SmartPlanet article, proposes an interesting variant on the Turing test – to create a synthesized voice capable of telling funny jokes.
