I think entertainment is going to get very interesting.
Ray Kurzweil predicts that we will have nanobots in our brain connected to the internet that will allow us to be submerged in virtual reality worlds. For your Star Trek NG fans out there, this would allow us to create holodeck type entertainment scenarios.
Here is the added twist – while you are going through your entertainment scenarios, an AI can be tracking your responses and modulating the experience of the characters around you appropriately.
Let’s say you are recreating the scene from Who Framed Roger Rabbit, when the detective Eddie Valiant goes in the club in toon town where Jessica Rabbit performs.
In this holodeck scenario, you would be the Eddie Valiant character. Depending on what emotions you are feeling – the gorilla doorman might pick you up – or not. Depends on how scared you are. In fact, he could pick you up and growl at your for just the right amount of time to get the desired reaction. If you are over 18, the experience you have with Jessica Rabbit might be very different than if you are a child. The important point here is that the framework for the entertainment will be the same, but your interaction with the characters will be tailor to your demographics, pyschographics and real-time reactions – in a way that is not yet possible. I think this will allow for a level of emotional depth and a richness of experience that we currently only get from time to time when our mood and the movie we are watching sync up. I for one am looking forward to it.
