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Over summer i had been reading a book called 'Selfie' by Will Storr. The book was located in a western context and explained how culturally we have become self obsessed and have extremely high expectations of ourselves and what it is doing to us. This was explained by our transition from pack animals to capitalist hierarchy structures and our independent strives for control and 'freedom'. The concept of this book interested me and because of my previous understanding on western overdetermination from Stephen Turner, i was attracted to the problems that surround virtual reality and alternative realities. This initially made me think of spaces that people create and live virtually through social profiles, sims or essentially living in alternative realms. In response to 'selfie', these spaces may be capable to change societies in a way that makes us more self involved, less able to compromise and more unsatisfied with living situations. However, doing very little research i realised that virtual spaces were being used commonly to prevent problems that happen in our current space for example; minimising waste, little cost and effective teaching resources.
I also realised looking at previous work that i was interested in creating immersive spaces and working with softwares so this interest area grew further.
I am interested in working with virtual augmented realities to question the impact it has on wellbeing or education.
Examples of Interior Design tools
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Here is a virtual reality tool where you can insert objects into the space where you are thinking of having a chair. This would be useful for consumers to be sure and more aware of their purchases and therefore reducing waste, or over consumption. An example of this a software supported by IKEA which helps their consumers make decisions about the items they use. The software is called Place and can be downloaded to your smart phones.
Example virtual social space - Sims 4 EA Games
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Games seem to be the most common spaces where the virtual reality goggles are used. I would like to look into the advantages and disadvantages of this application.
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