The Future of Gaming

hatr The new technologies described in the articles about the virtual reality cocoon, the mind reading headset, and LittleBigPlanet all aim at collapsing the distance between the world of the game and the world of the gamer, with varying methods and focuses. The technology that was the most appealing and accessible to me was LittleBigPlanet. I loved the idea that it was accessible to everyone even non-gamers. It reminded me of what we we talking about in class about how video games are completely elementary and in their infancy. The way that LittleBigPlanet supports the unlimited creativity of the players, rather than confining them to an extremely limited set of choices definitely seems like the logical and feasible next stage of evolution, and definitely changes my conception of gaming from a past time to a medium. The other two technologies seemed a little misguided.
The article about the mind-reading headset seemed a little alarmist. While I recognize that there could easily be a technology that recognizes mental impulses towards emotions or physical movements, this seems a far cry from technology that could read subconcious thoughts or influence our thoughts from afar. However, I found it an interesting sign of the times that the article focused on the gaming potential of this technology, or it's uses for terrorism, or government intrigue, rather than focusing on more practical applications in the medical realm that many people mentioned in class. This demonstrates many people's ambivalence towards new technology.
As someone who is infinitely lazy, I didn't really understand the appeal of the virtual reality cocoon. Well, maybe that's an overstatement. I do understand the appeal of entering a complete 3d recreation of a historical or fictional environment. But for me the internet is great because I don't have to move more than a few fingers to access a universe of information. Wouldn't going to amazon.com and pretending to walk around a book store be kind of like going to a bookstore and walking around it? Naw, I'm just being obtuse. This technology would be insane and completely redefine our understanding of the limits of the human body in ways that are scarcely comprehensible.