Bailenson is the director of the Virtual Human Interaction Lab at Stanford, and most of his book reads like a remarkably interesting report on the cool new experiments he’s conducting ... And although his discussion of certain applications of [virtual reality] can sometimes read like an advertisement, he gets what it’s really good at ...People interested in the current state of virtual reality’s applications will enjoy Bailenson ... As for my concerns about its possible future abuses, we might have to rely on science fiction writers for now.
It’s short, it’s levelheaded and it tells you what you need to know. Among other things, the book answers the sometimes vexing question of what VR is actually good for.
While VR [virtual reality] technology might allow us to fly through the universe, Experience on Demand is, in its simple narrative, quite a down-to-earth read. In some ways, it’s an accessible introduction, a cogent primer, to the potential and pitfalls of VR ... But the problem with Experience on Demand is that it is rather too well-intentioned. Bailenson has clearly drunk the Silicon Valley Kool-Aid ... And while the consumption of this Kool-Aid hasn’t necessarily uplifted his writing style (which, I’m afraid, is disappointingly pedestrian), it has corrupted his view of the world ...
It’s as if Bailenson has donned the most rose-tinted of VR headsets to observe mankind
Bailenson...delivers a lucid account of how VR [virtual reality] works, today’s applications (mostly games and education), ongoing research, and its dazzling future ... A working scientist, Bailenson resists the temptation to convert tantalizing laboratory results into revolutionary breakthroughs, and he does not ignore VR’s downsides, from simple eyestrain to 'simulator sickness' to an ominous blurring between the real and virtual worlds.
While Bailenson focuses more on laboratory studies than futuristic speculation, everyone with an interest in the digital realm, including technology entrepreneurs and gaming enthusiasts, will find his work thrillingly prophetic.
