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Cameron's Avatar a 3D Drug Trip?
bowman9991 writes "James Cameron's first movie since Titanic, his upcoming science fiction epic Avatar, has a budget pushing US$200 million and enough hype to power a mission to Mars. Now it appears the 3D technology he created to turn his vision into a reality, the key to Avatar's success or failure, may be habit forming. Dr. Mario Mendez, a behavioral neurologist at the University of California, said it is entirely possible Cameron's 3D technology could tap brain systems that are undisturbed by conventional 2D movies. Cameron himself believes 3D viewing 'is so close to a real experience that it actually triggers memory creation in a way that 2D viewing doesn't' and that stereoscopic (3D) viewing uses more neurons, which would further heighten its impact."
In other news, a purveyor of some media claims it's the best thing evar!!11!! You'll have to pay 10$ to see for yourself, but do not miss it!
I think the only important word in the article is $200M. This means hype, and lots of it. Don't be fooled kids, they need you to help pay for this cartoon.
Consider Ramachandran's mirror box, a means of using illusion to "cure" the pain of phantom limbs. From the Wikipedia article:
If such a low-tech visual illusion can rewire neurons, what can a high-fidelity, 3-dimensional illusion accomplish? (I'm not saying that Cameron's movie is going to have such effects, but how far will the technology go?)
Getting tired of Slashdot... moving to Usenet comp.misc for a while.
1) The article is Slashdotted.
2) Anyone who viewed "Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D" (With BRAND NEW 3D technology!!) knows that a crap film is a crap film no matter how many god damn dimensions it is viewed in.
I think the point is, that you would not look at a boring desk, but at something that you would normally never see in reality, but start confusing it with reality, thereby shocking you into insanity. ^^
I don't know if it it, but it sounds much like the arguments some people make against games. You know, the "I think people are too stupid to know that this is not reality, and will go on the streets, killing everyone, *because of it*." kind.
I feel very confident that I can distinguish that stuff. And I really hope it triggers some memory creation. I wouldn't want to pay for it, and remember nothing.
I am also the kind of person, who really *really* loves getting sucked into a movie or game.
You know. The moments when you come out of the cinema... and somehow, the whole world looks different.
You may have experienced it with Matrix. And with Fight Club. I certainly did.
And I totally love it.
Because no matter what horrors and just plain weird events you might remember very realistically afterwards, in the end you get some beautiful new views, grow a bit wiser, and will always know that it was just a movie.
Except of course, if you were a retard in the first place. ^^ (= the exception)
Any sufficiently advanced intelligence is indistinguishable from stupidity.
Now, this is one student's transcription as best as he could. The story changes a lot with each telling, but it's always hilarious. The best part of it, of course, is that the professor either totally believes it or is the best troll ever.
Troll? Hardly. That precise format is how all the best ghost stories get told. It sounds to me like most of the audience simply wasn't used to oral storytelling as an art form.