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Opening The Prison
There is a necessity to virtualise every basic part of a person's body in order to create a virtual shell that is as comfortable or more comfortable than the original physical shell. It goes beyond the basic external senses, it goes beyond proprioception, and into the realm of, as the Matrix films would say "residual self image". It is necessary to create a form complete and intricate enough that the person whose mind is inside it can walk in front of a reflective surface, look in and feel 'that's me.' For the majority of people, such a complete virtual shell, offering an alternate, real-feeling body, forms something that is roughly equivalent to their physical body. Perhaps it does not have a crick in its' back, or lacks 25lb of love handles. However, it is roughly equivalent, and they can switch back and forth between the two quite happily, treating the virtual as an extension of self, an alternate form no less or more than their main, physical one. However, there are many people who are trapped in their physical form, those for whom the physical body is one of five things:
For those at the more severe end of each of these five, the physical body is literally nothing but a prison cell with no key, no guard, and no hope of parole. A life long jail sentence, from which, traditionally, death is the only escape. This is where the true hope of a total virtual body form comes in. A virtual body, articulatory, visually and audibly fully functional. A form completely non-malfunctional, missing nothing, and exactly right for the individual. Something which is complete enough for that individual to use as their sole method of interaction with others if they so desire, still maintaining a very high standard of life. With full sensory feedback - something that is perfectly possible - touch, heat, cold, smell, and taste add to the usual virtual senses. Proprioception brings the body to life. All the 'i's dotted and the 't's crossed. If the person is blind in physical, so long as the brain can process visual signals, or learn to adapt to processing visual signals, sight in the virtual is possible. A paraplegic in a physical body, learns to pole vault in the virtual one. Those with cerebral palsy stride tall and proud, and mutes talk with a natural sounding voice. This is the true potential of virtual bodies, and what we must continually strive to reach. One day, well within a lifetime, we will be there. Staff Comments
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