Author: Christopher Rogers
Publisher: iUniverse
ISBN: 1663231028
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 401
Book Description
Jonathan Hannah and Maureen Kelly are 24-year-olds struggling with religion, sexuality, and a hypnotic mid-90s virtual-reality game culture. Maureen is a lukewarm, lifelong Catholic, trying to keep her vow of virginity, despite an infuriated fiancé and a pretty best friend. Jonathan is an agnostic womanizer. His conversion story starts when he learns his parents aborted his sister for her kidney cells: he was born instead. At his new career near Miami, a beautiful executive, Lana, seduces him. Lana controls access to Magic Theater, the mysterious games Jonathan tests. Jonathan’s search for authentic reality and purpose intensifies as he explores Lana, girls, 90s-culture, corporations, art, and Catholicism. His journey shifts to the wintry north, through temptations like an erotic ex-lover, his ominous mentor, and the wide gate to eternity. Virtual Eternity combines vivid characters, romance, technological conspiracy, and religious journeys, including Scripture and Tradition sources. It weaves together two transformation stories.
Virtual Eternity
Author: Christopher Rogers
Publisher: iUniverse
ISBN: 1663231028
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 401
Book Description
Jonathan Hannah and Maureen Kelly are 24-year-olds struggling with religion, sexuality, and a hypnotic mid-90s virtual-reality game culture. Maureen is a lukewarm, lifelong Catholic, trying to keep her vow of virginity, despite an infuriated fiancé and a pretty best friend. Jonathan is an agnostic womanizer. His conversion story starts when he learns his parents aborted his sister for her kidney cells: he was born instead. At his new career near Miami, a beautiful executive, Lana, seduces him. Lana controls access to Magic Theater, the mysterious games Jonathan tests. Jonathan’s search for authentic reality and purpose intensifies as he explores Lana, girls, 90s-culture, corporations, art, and Catholicism. His journey shifts to the wintry north, through temptations like an erotic ex-lover, his ominous mentor, and the wide gate to eternity. Virtual Eternity combines vivid characters, romance, technological conspiracy, and religious journeys, including Scripture and Tradition sources. It weaves together two transformation stories.
Publisher: iUniverse
ISBN: 1663231028
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 401
Book Description
Jonathan Hannah and Maureen Kelly are 24-year-olds struggling with religion, sexuality, and a hypnotic mid-90s virtual-reality game culture. Maureen is a lukewarm, lifelong Catholic, trying to keep her vow of virginity, despite an infuriated fiancé and a pretty best friend. Jonathan is an agnostic womanizer. His conversion story starts when he learns his parents aborted his sister for her kidney cells: he was born instead. At his new career near Miami, a beautiful executive, Lana, seduces him. Lana controls access to Magic Theater, the mysterious games Jonathan tests. Jonathan’s search for authentic reality and purpose intensifies as he explores Lana, girls, 90s-culture, corporations, art, and Catholicism. His journey shifts to the wintry north, through temptations like an erotic ex-lover, his ominous mentor, and the wide gate to eternity. Virtual Eternity combines vivid characters, romance, technological conspiracy, and religious journeys, including Scripture and Tradition sources. It weaves together two transformation stories.
Virtual Afterlives
Author: Candi K. Cann
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
ISBN: 0813145422
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 212
Book Description
For millennia, the rituals of death and remembrance have been fixed by time and location, but in the twenty-first century, grieving has become a virtual phenomenon. Today, the dead live on through social media profiles, memorial websites, and saved voicemails that can be accessed at any time. This dramatic cultural shift has made the physical presence of death secondary to the psychological experience of mourning. Virtual Afterlives investigates emerging popular bereavement traditions. Author Candi K. Cann examines new forms of grieving and evaluates how religion and the funeral industry have both contributed to mourning rituals despite their limited ability to remedy grief. As grieving traditions and locations shift, people are discovering new ways to memorialize their loved ones. Bodiless and spontaneous memorials like those at the sites of the shootings in Aurora and Newtown and the Boston Marathon bombing, as well as roadside memorials, car decals, and tattoos are contributing to a new bereavement language that crosses national boundaries and culture-specific perceptions of death. Examining mourning practices in the United States in comparison to the broader background of practices in Asia and Latin America, Virtual Afterlives seeks to resituate death as a part of life and mourning as a unifying process that helps to create identities and narratives for communities. As technology changes the ways in which we experience death, this engaging study explores the culture of bereavement and the ways in which it, too, is being significantly transformed.
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
ISBN: 0813145422
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 212
Book Description
For millennia, the rituals of death and remembrance have been fixed by time and location, but in the twenty-first century, grieving has become a virtual phenomenon. Today, the dead live on through social media profiles, memorial websites, and saved voicemails that can be accessed at any time. This dramatic cultural shift has made the physical presence of death secondary to the psychological experience of mourning. Virtual Afterlives investigates emerging popular bereavement traditions. Author Candi K. Cann examines new forms of grieving and evaluates how religion and the funeral industry have both contributed to mourning rituals despite their limited ability to remedy grief. As grieving traditions and locations shift, people are discovering new ways to memorialize their loved ones. Bodiless and spontaneous memorials like those at the sites of the shootings in Aurora and Newtown and the Boston Marathon bombing, as well as roadside memorials, car decals, and tattoos are contributing to a new bereavement language that crosses national boundaries and culture-specific perceptions of death. Examining mourning practices in the United States in comparison to the broader background of practices in Asia and Latin America, Virtual Afterlives seeks to resituate death as a part of life and mourning as a unifying process that helps to create identities and narratives for communities. As technology changes the ways in which we experience death, this engaging study explores the culture of bereavement and the ways in which it, too, is being significantly transformed.
Virtual Reality
Author: Fouad Sabry
Publisher: One Billion Knowledgeable
ISBN:
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 328
Book Description
What Is Virtual Reality The term "virtual reality" (VR) refers to a simulated experience that may either be very similar to or quite dissimilar from the actual world. Virtual reality may be used in a variety of settings, including entertainment, education, and even business. Other separate forms of technology that are similar to virtual reality include augmented reality and mixed reality, which are often collectively referred to as extended reality or XR for short. How You Will Benefit (I) Insights, and validations about the following topics: Chapter 1: Virtual reality Chapter 2: Mixed reality Chapter 3: Head-mounted display Chapter 4: Immersion (virtual reality) Chapter 5: Oculus Rift Chapter 6: Sketchfab Chapter 7: Windows Mixed Reality Chapter 8: HTC Vive Chapter 9: Virtual reality headset Chapter 10: Comparison of virtual reality headsets Chapter 11: Tilt Brush Chapter 12: Foveated rendering Chapter 13: VR positional tracking Chapter 14: Hyper Reality Experience Chapter 15: Virtual reality game Chapter 16: VRChat Chapter 17: Virtual reality applications Chapter 18: Valve Index Chapter 19: Oculus Rift CV1 Chapter 20: TheBlu Chapter 21: NeosVR (II) Answering the public top questions about virtual reality. (III) Real world examples for the usage of virtual reality in many fields. (IV) 17 appendices to explain, briefly, 266 emerging technologies in each industry to have 360-degree full understanding of virtual reality' technologies. Who This Book Is For Professionals, undergraduate and graduate students, enthusiasts, hobbyists, and those who want to go beyond basic knowledge or information for any kind of virtual reality.
Publisher: One Billion Knowledgeable
ISBN:
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 328
Book Description
What Is Virtual Reality The term "virtual reality" (VR) refers to a simulated experience that may either be very similar to or quite dissimilar from the actual world. Virtual reality may be used in a variety of settings, including entertainment, education, and even business. Other separate forms of technology that are similar to virtual reality include augmented reality and mixed reality, which are often collectively referred to as extended reality or XR for short. How You Will Benefit (I) Insights, and validations about the following topics: Chapter 1: Virtual reality Chapter 2: Mixed reality Chapter 3: Head-mounted display Chapter 4: Immersion (virtual reality) Chapter 5: Oculus Rift Chapter 6: Sketchfab Chapter 7: Windows Mixed Reality Chapter 8: HTC Vive Chapter 9: Virtual reality headset Chapter 10: Comparison of virtual reality headsets Chapter 11: Tilt Brush Chapter 12: Foveated rendering Chapter 13: VR positional tracking Chapter 14: Hyper Reality Experience Chapter 15: Virtual reality game Chapter 16: VRChat Chapter 17: Virtual reality applications Chapter 18: Valve Index Chapter 19: Oculus Rift CV1 Chapter 20: TheBlu Chapter 21: NeosVR (II) Answering the public top questions about virtual reality. (III) Real world examples for the usage of virtual reality in many fields. (IV) 17 appendices to explain, briefly, 266 emerging technologies in each industry to have 360-degree full understanding of virtual reality' technologies. Who This Book Is For Professionals, undergraduate and graduate students, enthusiasts, hobbyists, and those who want to go beyond basic knowledge or information for any kind of virtual reality.
Virtual Lives
Author: James D. Ivory Ph.D.
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 1598845861
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 286
Book Description
This book is the THE source for information on virtual worlds, covering every aspect of this intriguing and fast-changing social practice and the technologies upon which it rests. Virtual Lives: A Reference Handbook describes the history, development, and role of virtual worlds, also known as virtual environments and immersive virtual environments. It provides detailed background about virtual worlds and their societal impact, from early precursors and inspirations to the latest trends and developments. Specifics on user demographics are included, as are descriptions of virtual worlds' functions, discussion of societal concerns and opportunities, and information about relevant research data and key persons and organizations. Although virtual worlds in their current form are a relatively new phenomenon, other online social environments have served as precursors for decades and literary inspirations go back even further. This handbook therefore covers some early developments dating back to the mid-20th century. Its primary focus, however, is on developments since the mid-1990s and especially on the current state and social impact of virtual worlds, including their impact both in the United States and around the world.
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 1598845861
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 286
Book Description
This book is the THE source for information on virtual worlds, covering every aspect of this intriguing and fast-changing social practice and the technologies upon which it rests. Virtual Lives: A Reference Handbook describes the history, development, and role of virtual worlds, also known as virtual environments and immersive virtual environments. It provides detailed background about virtual worlds and their societal impact, from early precursors and inspirations to the latest trends and developments. Specifics on user demographics are included, as are descriptions of virtual worlds' functions, discussion of societal concerns and opportunities, and information about relevant research data and key persons and organizations. Although virtual worlds in their current form are a relatively new phenomenon, other online social environments have served as precursors for decades and literary inspirations go back even further. This handbook therefore covers some early developments dating back to the mid-20th century. Its primary focus, however, is on developments since the mid-1990s and especially on the current state and social impact of virtual worlds, including their impact both in the United States and around the world.
House of Eternity
Author: John K. McDonald
Publisher: Getty Publications
ISBN: 0892364157
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 124
Book Description
Nefertari, the favorite queen of Rameses II, was buried about 3,200 years ago in the most exquisitely decorated tomb in Egypt's Valley of the Queens. Discovered in 1904 by Italian explorer Ernesto Schiaparelli, the tomb had deteriorated to a disastrous extent when emergency consolidation began in 1986. The six-year conservation project of the GCI and the Egyptian Antiquities Organization was completed in 1992. In this fascinating exploration of the tomb, John McDonald takes the reader through each chamber, describing the hieroglyphic messages depicted in the brilliant wall paintings and discussing the images within the context of Egyptian beliefs. He also offers insights into the life of Nefertari, the development and symbolism of royal tombs, and the construction and decoration of the tombs. House of Eternity is illustrated with historic black-and-white images and more recent color photographs that reveal the vibrant beauty of the wall paintings. In November 1995 the tomb was reopened to the public. Because of the potential for damage and deterioration to the fragile wall paintings caused by increased humidity, carbon dioxide, and microbiological activity introduced by visitors to the tomb, the number permitted to enter daily is strictly controlled by the Egyptian authorities. This book results from a desire of the GCI to enrich visitors' experience by providing a detailed descriptive walk-through of the tomb while conveying a strong message regarding the need for conservation and continuous monitoring to ensure the long-term survival of the tomb's paintings. Visitors to the tomb and the armchair traveler alike will find House of Eternity to be an excellent resource for understanding Nefertari's journey to the afterlife and for appreciating the extraordinary depictions of that journey on the walls of Nefertari's tomb.
Publisher: Getty Publications
ISBN: 0892364157
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 124
Book Description
Nefertari, the favorite queen of Rameses II, was buried about 3,200 years ago in the most exquisitely decorated tomb in Egypt's Valley of the Queens. Discovered in 1904 by Italian explorer Ernesto Schiaparelli, the tomb had deteriorated to a disastrous extent when emergency consolidation began in 1986. The six-year conservation project of the GCI and the Egyptian Antiquities Organization was completed in 1992. In this fascinating exploration of the tomb, John McDonald takes the reader through each chamber, describing the hieroglyphic messages depicted in the brilliant wall paintings and discussing the images within the context of Egyptian beliefs. He also offers insights into the life of Nefertari, the development and symbolism of royal tombs, and the construction and decoration of the tombs. House of Eternity is illustrated with historic black-and-white images and more recent color photographs that reveal the vibrant beauty of the wall paintings. In November 1995 the tomb was reopened to the public. Because of the potential for damage and deterioration to the fragile wall paintings caused by increased humidity, carbon dioxide, and microbiological activity introduced by visitors to the tomb, the number permitted to enter daily is strictly controlled by the Egyptian authorities. This book results from a desire of the GCI to enrich visitors' experience by providing a detailed descriptive walk-through of the tomb while conveying a strong message regarding the need for conservation and continuous monitoring to ensure the long-term survival of the tomb's paintings. Visitors to the tomb and the armchair traveler alike will find House of Eternity to be an excellent resource for understanding Nefertari's journey to the afterlife and for appreciating the extraordinary depictions of that journey on the walls of Nefertari's tomb.
Digital Souls
Author: Patrick Stokes
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1350139165
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 209
Book Description
Social media is full of dead people. Nobody knows precisely how many Facebook profiles belong to dead users but in 2012 the figure was estimated at 30 million. What do we do with all these digital souls? Can we simply delete them, or do they have a right to persist? Philosophers have been almost entirely silent on the topic, despite their perennial focus on death as a unique dimension of human existence. Until now. Drawing on ongoing philosophical debates, Digital Souls claims that the digital dead are objects that should be treated with loving regard and that we have a moral duty towards. Modern technology helps them to persist in various ways, while also making them vulnerable to new forms of exploitation and abuse. This provocative book explores a range of questions about the nature of death, identity, grief, the moral status of digital remains and the threat posed by AI-driven avatars of dead people. In the digital era, it seems we must all re-learn how to live with the dead.
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1350139165
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 209
Book Description
Social media is full of dead people. Nobody knows precisely how many Facebook profiles belong to dead users but in 2012 the figure was estimated at 30 million. What do we do with all these digital souls? Can we simply delete them, or do they have a right to persist? Philosophers have been almost entirely silent on the topic, despite their perennial focus on death as a unique dimension of human existence. Until now. Drawing on ongoing philosophical debates, Digital Souls claims that the digital dead are objects that should be treated with loving regard and that we have a moral duty towards. Modern technology helps them to persist in various ways, while also making them vulnerable to new forms of exploitation and abuse. This provocative book explores a range of questions about the nature of death, identity, grief, the moral status of digital remains and the threat posed by AI-driven avatars of dead people. In the digital era, it seems we must all re-learn how to live with the dead.
Unimaginable Bodies
Author: Anna Catherine Hickey-Moody
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9087908555
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 119
Book Description
Unimaginable Bodies radically resituates academic discussions of intellectual disability. Through building relationships between philosophy, cultural studies and communities of integrated dance theatre practice, Anna Hickey-Moody argues that dance theatre devised with and performed by young people with and without intellectual disability, can reframe the ways in which bodies with intellectual disability are known. This proposition is considered in terms of classic philosophical ideas of how we think the mind and body, as Hickey-Moody argues that dance theatre performed by young people with and without intellectual disability creates a context in which the intellectually disabled body is understood in terms other than those that pre-suppose a Cartesian mind-body dualism. Taking up the writings of Spinoza and Deleuze and Guattari, Hickey-Moody critiques aspects of medical discourses of intellectual disability, arguing that Cartesian methods for thinking about the body are recreated within these discourses. Further, she shows that Cartesian ways of conceiving corporeality can be traced through select studies of the social construction of intellectual disability. The argument for theorising corporeality and embodied knowledge that Hickey-Moody constructs is a philosophical interpretation of the processes of knowledge production and subjectification that occur in integrated dance theatre. Knowledge produced within integrated dance theatre is translated into thought in order to explore the affective nature of performance texts. This book is essential reading for those interested in theories of embodiment, disability studies and dance. Cover Image: Ziggy Kuster, Gigibori: Invaders of the soul, Photography David Wilson ã Restless Dance Company
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9087908555
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 119
Book Description
Unimaginable Bodies radically resituates academic discussions of intellectual disability. Through building relationships between philosophy, cultural studies and communities of integrated dance theatre practice, Anna Hickey-Moody argues that dance theatre devised with and performed by young people with and without intellectual disability, can reframe the ways in which bodies with intellectual disability are known. This proposition is considered in terms of classic philosophical ideas of how we think the mind and body, as Hickey-Moody argues that dance theatre performed by young people with and without intellectual disability creates a context in which the intellectually disabled body is understood in terms other than those that pre-suppose a Cartesian mind-body dualism. Taking up the writings of Spinoza and Deleuze and Guattari, Hickey-Moody critiques aspects of medical discourses of intellectual disability, arguing that Cartesian methods for thinking about the body are recreated within these discourses. Further, she shows that Cartesian ways of conceiving corporeality can be traced through select studies of the social construction of intellectual disability. The argument for theorising corporeality and embodied knowledge that Hickey-Moody constructs is a philosophical interpretation of the processes of knowledge production and subjectification that occur in integrated dance theatre. Knowledge produced within integrated dance theatre is translated into thought in order to explore the affective nature of performance texts. This book is essential reading for those interested in theories of embodiment, disability studies and dance. Cover Image: Ziggy Kuster, Gigibori: Invaders of the soul, Photography David Wilson ã Restless Dance Company
The Rule of Squares
Author: Cam Campbell
Publisher: AuthorHouse
ISBN: 1524699128
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 437
Book Description
Erwin Rowell displays unusual genius. His path leads him to believe that the impossible may be possible after all. Come on Erwins journey in The Rule of Squares and find what can happen when the curiously motivated follow their dreams.
Publisher: AuthorHouse
ISBN: 1524699128
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 437
Book Description
Erwin Rowell displays unusual genius. His path leads him to believe that the impossible may be possible after all. Come on Erwins journey in The Rule of Squares and find what can happen when the curiously motivated follow their dreams.
Frontier Computing
Author: Jason C. Hung
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 9819914280
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 2017
Book Description
This book gathers the proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Frontier Computing, held in Tokyo, Japan, on July 12–15, 2022, and provides comprehensive coverage of the latest advances and trends in information technology, science, and engineering. It addresses a number of broad themes, including communication networks, business intelligence and knowledge management, Web intelligence, and related fields that inspire the development of information technology. The respective contributions cover a wide range of topics: database and data mining, networking and communications, Web and Internet of things, embedded systems, soft computing, social network analysis, security and privacy, optical communication, and ubiquitous/pervasive computing. Many of the papers outline promising future research directions, and the book benefits students, researchers, and professionals alike. Further, it offers a useful reference guide for newcomers to the field.
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 9819914280
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 2017
Book Description
This book gathers the proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Frontier Computing, held in Tokyo, Japan, on July 12–15, 2022, and provides comprehensive coverage of the latest advances and trends in information technology, science, and engineering. It addresses a number of broad themes, including communication networks, business intelligence and knowledge management, Web intelligence, and related fields that inspire the development of information technology. The respective contributions cover a wide range of topics: database and data mining, networking and communications, Web and Internet of things, embedded systems, soft computing, social network analysis, security and privacy, optical communication, and ubiquitous/pervasive computing. Many of the papers outline promising future research directions, and the book benefits students, researchers, and professionals alike. Further, it offers a useful reference guide for newcomers to the field.
The Cosmic Spirit
Author: Roland Faber
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1725260697
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 410
Book Description
Are we more than stardust? Is the appearance of the fragile Earth in the vast universe more than an accident? Are we not children of a Spirit that pervades the dust, rejuvenates life, and embraces the ever-evolving universe? Is there a cosmic Spirit that wants us to awaken to a consciousness of universal meaning, sacred purpose, and mutual friendship with all beings? This book answers these questions with a spirituality of the numinous in our relation to the elements of the Earth in the matrix of the multiverse by taking you on a journey through nine paths and nineteen meditations of awakening. Not bound by any religion, but in deep appreciation of the religious and spiritual heritage of human encounters with the divine depth of existence in our selves and in nature, they invite you to become sojourners by engaging the most profound embodiments of the intangible Spirit by which it facilitates its own materialization in the cosmos and our spiritualization of the cosmos. Use—says this Spirit—the stardust that you are to become a spirit-faring species in an eternal journey of the cosmos to realize its ultimate motive of existence—the attraction of love!
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1725260697
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 410
Book Description
Are we more than stardust? Is the appearance of the fragile Earth in the vast universe more than an accident? Are we not children of a Spirit that pervades the dust, rejuvenates life, and embraces the ever-evolving universe? Is there a cosmic Spirit that wants us to awaken to a consciousness of universal meaning, sacred purpose, and mutual friendship with all beings? This book answers these questions with a spirituality of the numinous in our relation to the elements of the Earth in the matrix of the multiverse by taking you on a journey through nine paths and nineteen meditations of awakening. Not bound by any religion, but in deep appreciation of the religious and spiritual heritage of human encounters with the divine depth of existence in our selves and in nature, they invite you to become sojourners by engaging the most profound embodiments of the intangible Spirit by which it facilitates its own materialization in the cosmos and our spiritualization of the cosmos. Use—says this Spirit—the stardust that you are to become a spirit-faring species in an eternal journey of the cosmos to realize its ultimate motive of existence—the attraction of love!