Syndicate: VR Landmark

[Philip Zhai <philipz@sprynet.com>]

Dear Friends,

This is a book review in "VR in School"


I just saw an excellent review on my book in "VR in School":



                        Volume 3, Number 1, June 1998


                                 Get Real:
              A Philosophical Adventure in Virtual Reality,
                               by Philip Zhai
                                       
                  Brief Notice and Review by Lawrence Auld
                             auldl@mail.ecu.edu

     Get Real:  A Philosophical Adventure in Virtual Reality, by Philip
Zhai.  (Lanham, MD: 
     Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 1998.  215 pages.  0-8476-8983-2)

This is, indeed, a philosophical adventure.  With one mind experiment
after another, Zhai leads us through
real (physical) space and into virtual space which, he says, is also
real:  "... the virtual is totally equivalent
to the actual in its functionality for human life ..."  (p. xv).  He
goes on to say that "...we can never
re-create the human mind through artificial intelligence ... but we can
re-create the whole empirical world
through virtual reality"  (p. 99). 

Get Real has the potential to become a landmark in both philosophy and
virtual reality.  The clearly written
text progresses systematically through one hard issue after another. 
Whether or not one agrees with all of
the conclusions, this is a book to be studied and then restudied. 

Philip Zhai has strong footholds in both the practical and the
theoretical.  An assistant professor at
Muhlenberg College, he has a bachelor's degree in engineering and a
doctorate in philosophy.  He may be
reached by email at philipzz@hotmail.com. 

Dr. Lawrence Auld is co-Director of the Virtual Reality and Education
Laboratory, School of Education,
East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina 27858-4353 USA. 
Telephone:  252-328-4374 
Fax:  252-328-4368 


Philip Zhai's Webpage: http://www.geocities.com/athens/3328