Difference between revisions of "Virtuality Universe/Technical details"
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First, If two people "live" on the same computer, that is just as good as being in the same room in Reality. If two people "live" on different computers connected by a high-speed network, that is *almost* as good as being in the same room; the difference will change as the ratio of CPU speed to communication speed changes, but ultimately will be affected by the speed of light. (Comm speed seems to improve more slowly than CPU speed; we had 100 mbps Ethernet in 1998, and in 2006 we're still mostly using that same speed, although gigabit has been available to consumers for several years now. CPU speed, however, has gone up by a factor of about 10-20 at a quick guess.) | First, If two people "live" on the same computer, that is just as good as being in the same room in Reality. If two people "live" on different computers connected by a high-speed network, that is *almost* as good as being in the same room; the difference will change as the ratio of CPU speed to communication speed changes, but ultimately will be affected by the speed of light. (Comm speed seems to improve more slowly than CPU speed; we had 100 mbps Ethernet in 1998, and in 2006 we're still mostly using that same speed, although gigabit has been available to consumers for several years now. CPU speed, however, has gone up by a factor of about 10-20 at a quick guess.) | ||
'' | ==Cost of Living== | ||
A couple of assumptions: | |||
* people won't start "going virtual" in significant numbers until a single computer can accomodate all of a virtual person's basic needs (body simulation and surroundings, plus the necessary interfaces to interact with others) | |||
* the size and power consumption of the average "single computer" will not go up; more likely it will go down, due to various economic and technical factors. | |||
At the beginning of the "virtual age", then, one virtual human's basic needs will be essentially the following: | |||
* about 200 watts of power, continuous | |||
* one computer's worth of hardware, but with much more redundancy than today's home systems | |||
* maintenance hardware (waldos for replacing parts) | |||
* parts and supplies for repair of all hardware | |||
* media for backups (most regular backups will probably be done via encrypted peer-to-peer file-sharing, but most sensible folks will want to have hard backups in case of disaster) | |||
==Idea Fodder== | ==Idea Fodder== | ||
* [http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-01/uonc-hsd011106.php Health seriously declines, disparities increase as youths become adults]: virtual people might want to stop their aging somewhere during (or even before) adolescence | * [http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-01/uonc-hsd011106.php Health seriously declines, disparities increase as youths become adults]: virtual people might want to stop their aging somewhere during (or even before) adolescence | ||
Revision as of 02:37, 30 January 2006
Some technical details for the Virtuality Universe
Social Distance and Communication
First, If two people "live" on the same computer, that is just as good as being in the same room in Reality. If two people "live" on different computers connected by a high-speed network, that is *almost* as good as being in the same room; the difference will change as the ratio of CPU speed to communication speed changes, but ultimately will be affected by the speed of light. (Comm speed seems to improve more slowly than CPU speed; we had 100 mbps Ethernet in 1998, and in 2006 we're still mostly using that same speed, although gigabit has been available to consumers for several years now. CPU speed, however, has gone up by a factor of about 10-20 at a quick guess.)
Cost of Living
A couple of assumptions:
- people won't start "going virtual" in significant numbers until a single computer can accomodate all of a virtual person's basic needs (body simulation and surroundings, plus the necessary interfaces to interact with others)
- the size and power consumption of the average "single computer" will not go up; more likely it will go down, due to various economic and technical factors.
At the beginning of the "virtual age", then, one virtual human's basic needs will be essentially the following:
- about 200 watts of power, continuous
- one computer's worth of hardware, but with much more redundancy than today's home systems
- maintenance hardware (waldos for replacing parts)
- parts and supplies for repair of all hardware
- media for backups (most regular backups will probably be done via encrypted peer-to-peer file-sharing, but most sensible folks will want to have hard backups in case of disaster)
Idea Fodder
- Health seriously declines, disparities increase as youths become adults: virtual people might want to stop their aging somewhere during (or even before) adolescence