In the world of technology, there are many different “realities”. Over the past few years, people have seen a glimpse of virtual, augmented, and mixed reality. However, there is also the simulated reality, which takes things one step further. It is not necessarily an environment most people would feel comfortable living in, though.
Simulated or Artificial Reality In a Nutshell
When someone talks about simulated reality, it doesn’t take long for people to think of the The Matrix movies. Simulated reality is, at this stage, nothing more than a hypothesis. However, it touches upon the concept of how our entire reality – as in, our daily lives – are nothing more than a simulation. This simulation is so sophisticated it becomes indistinguishable from the “real world”.
This is something entirely different compared to virtual, augmented, and mixed reality. All of these three realities heavily rely on technology to merge the real world with a generated environment. Some experts claim virtual reality is perhaps the most advanced technological concept we can achieve right now. Creating a fully simulated reality would require exceptional technological resources which our society does not possess at this time.
Moreover, virtual and augmented reality do not even come close to the real world we live in. That is, assuming we live in the real world, and not in a simulated reality. Since no one would be able to find any flaws in the simulated reality, it is very well possible, we would never find out the truth either. Additionally, dreams can be considered to be a simulated reality, and they feel very real at times.
In the end, there is no viable way to prove the simulated reality does or does not exist. It is impossible to tell one from the other. This creates an issue known as the “infinite regress problem”. From a technological point of view, it is highly unlikely anyone living today will ever experience a simulated reality in their lifetime. Virtual, augmented, and mixed reality will continue to evolve to provide a lifelike experience, but they will not achieve this level of reality anytime soon.
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