People will become socially immature. Virtual realities do what people want them to do, and that’s not the way the real world works.
Predictor: Furness, Thomas
Prediction, in context:A 1991 article for U.S. News & World Report carries an article on the promise and fears of virtual reality, quoting VR entrepreneur Jaron Lanier and Thomas Furness of the University of Washington. The article says:”Lanier views virtual reality as the ultimate communication tool, offering the possibility of ‘re-creating a commons, a village square.’ But critics counter that these technologies will worsen people’s isolation, taking them further into the electronic cocoon spun by video parlors and TV. ‘People will become socially immature,’ warns Thomas Furness of the University of Washington. ‘Virtual realities do what people want them to do, and that’s not the way the real world works.'”
Date of prediction: January 1, 1991
Topic of prediction: Community/Culture
Subtopic: Social Withdrawal/Addiction
Name of publication: U.S. News & World Report
Title, headline, chapter name: Are New Realities More or Less Real?
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe/document?_m=e41899dd868358e2c12567ae35dc0370&_docnum=16&wchp=dGLbVlz-lSlAl&_md5=eca38599738f2fbe2fbe83dc258be703
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Lightburn, Ellie