Level 3 Reading 9A

Ch.17

第17章

Reading 9A THE POWER OF VIRTUAL REALITY People have talked about the possibilities of virtual reality since the mid-1990s. In this interview, Jeremy Bailenson—director of the Virtual Human Interactive Lab at Stanford University— explains how these possibilities are now becoming real. What's the difference between watching a video and wearing a VR headset? The difference is what psychologists call "embodied cognition." That is, we learn by doing. For a lot of the most important learning events in your life, you actually did something—you walked somewhere or felt something. Similarly, Virtual Reality is active, not passive. You learn in ways that people have been learning for hundreds of thousands of years: by having an experience. Our lab studies have shown that, in general, the brain tends to treat a VR event in a similar way to an actual event. So there's a difference between performing an event in a traditional video game and doing it inside VR. You've said that VR can help athletes. What's an example of that? We demonstrated in the 2014 NFL season that VR could help quarterbacks by improving their decision-making accuracy and reducing their reaction times. Carson Palmer is one of the earliest adopters. VR gave him a tool he could use to learn the plays better. Carson had a system in his home. For just a couple minutes a day, after he'd wake up, he'd go over his plays and mentally practice what he was going to do. It was as though he were actually on the field. But he was in his living room, getting extra practice. Since then, VR has been used by teams across many sports. The German national soccer team, among others, uses it in their practice quite often.

阅读9A 虚拟现实的力量 自20世纪90年代中期以来，人们一直在谈论虚拟现实的可能性。 在这次采访中，斯坦福大学虚拟人交互实验室主任Jeremy Bailenson-- 解释了这些可能性现在是如何成为现实的。 看视频和戴VR耳机有什么区别？ 区别在于心理学家所说的“具身认知”。也就是说，我们通过做来学习。 对于你生命中许多最重要的学习事件， 你真的做了什么——你走到某个地方或感觉到了什么。 同样，虚拟现实是主动的，而不是被动的。 你以人们数十万年来一直在学习的方式学习：通过体验。 我们的实验室研究表明， 大脑倾向于以与实际事件类似的方式处理VR事件。 因此，在传统视频游戏中表演活动和在VR中表演活动是有区别的。 你说过VR可以帮助运动员。有什么例子吗？ 我们在2014年NFL赛季中展示了 VR可以通过提高四分卫的决策准确性和减少他们的反应时间来帮助他们。 Carson Palmer是最早的采用者之一。 VR给了他一个可以用来更好地学习戏剧的工具。 卡森家里有一套系统。 每天只有几分钟，在他醒来后， 他会复习他的剧本，在心里练习他要做什么。 就好像他真的在球场上。 但他在客厅里，进行额外的练习。 从那时起，VR就被许多运动项目的团队所使用。 德国国家足球队在训练中经常使用它。

Explain how VR avatars can improve video conferencing. Video conferencing is good for some activities. But it's not good for an important meeting where intense decisions have to be made. One reason is the eye contact problem. If you look at the camera on the top of your laptop, you don't see the other person. Conversely, if you look at the other person's image on your screen, you're not looking at the camera. Psychologists have shown that very small changes in things like eye contact, body space, or posture alter the way conversations flow. With VR avatars, you can control things like body position and eye contact in a way you can't do with video conferences. You have said that VR can help save the planet. How can VR raise awareness of environmental issues? One example is an experiment on the island of Ischia, in Italy. Ischia is a marine site that scientists have been studying for decades. Carbon dioxide is destroying its coral and degrading the food web. I can't bring the entire world to Ischia to show how CO2 degrades ecosystems. But with VR, I can bring Ischia to people. So, we produced a seven-minute journey that shows how all the oceans will look in about 50 years, based on this one site in Ischia. Using this VR model, people get to be scientists. They explore the effects of CO2, on various species in the ecosystem, and learn by doing. What about the downsides of VR—for example, using it to create violent video games? The way I think of VR is that we should use it for things that we can't do in the real world. You should use VR to go to the moon or try becoming someone else. But you shouldn't do things that you wouldn't do in the real world. In your opinion, will VR change how we interact with other people in the real world? VR is a tool, just like any other media. But it has a different impact on how we perceive information. That's because you're using your body and it's completely immersive. It's a big jump in the history of media. But I don't think it's going to change who people are. I think we will continue to be the same humans that we have been on the planet for quite some time. And I, for one, am glad of that. The interview was edited for length and clarity.

解释VR化身如何改善视频会议。 视频会议对某些活动有好处。 但对于必须做出激烈决定的重要会议来说，这并不好。 一个原因是眼神交流问题。 如果你看着笔记本电脑顶部的摄像头，你看不到对方。 相反，如果你在屏幕上看另一个人的图像，你就不是在看相机。 心理学家已经证明，眼神交流等事情的微小变化， 身体空间或姿势会改变对话的方式。 使用VR化身，你可以控制身体姿势和眼神交流等 在某种程度上，你无法忍受视频会议。 你说过VR可以帮助拯救地球。VR如何提高人们对环境问题的认识？ 一个例子是在意大利伊斯基亚岛进行的一项实验。 伊斯基亚是一个科学家们已经研究了几十年的海洋遗址。 二氧化碳正在破坏珊瑚，破坏食物网。 我不能把整个世界都带到伊斯基亚来展示二氧化碳是如何破坏生态系统的。 但有了VR，我可以把伊斯基亚带给人们。 所以，我们制作了一个7分钟的旅程，展示了大约50年后所有海洋的样子， 基于伊斯基亚的这个网站。 使用这种VR模型，人们可以成为科学家。 他们探索二氧化碳对生态系统中各种物种的影响，并在实践中学习。 那么VR的缺点呢？例如，用它来制作暴力视频游戏？ 我对VR的看法是 我们应该把它用于我们在现实世界中做不到的事情。 你应该使用VR去月球或尝试成为别人。 但你不应该做在现实世界中不会做的事情。 在你看来，VR会改变我们在现实世界中与他人互动的方式吗？ VR是一种工具，就像任何其他媒体一样。 但它对我们感知信息的方式有不同的影响。 这是因为你在使用你的身体，这是完全沉浸式的。 这是媒体史上的一大飞跃。 但我不认为这会改变人们是谁。 我认为我们将继续成为我们在这个星球上生活了相当长一段时间的人类。 就我而言，我对此感到高兴。 为了篇幅和清晰度，对采访进行了编辑。

♪

♪