Full Dive. It sounds like something to do with a swimming pool. It is in fact the excepted terminology for bringing a human being's consciousness into a virtual world. What that means is that while a person would be sitting in a chair or lying in a bed, they would mentally exist in a virtual landscape. They feel their body in a computer rendered world and have absolutely perfect control over their in-game bodies.
The concept of a full dive goes as far back as 1984, when William Gibson wrote his groundbreaking novel, Neuromancer, which spawned a new genre (Cyberpunk) and a new setting (Cyberpunk Dystopian Future). Neuromancer is also where we first hear the term "The Matrix," which is just a fancy way of saying the Internet (remember, in 1984 the Internet was in it's infancy and the term was not widely in use). The main character, one Henry Case, is what is commonly referred to as a "Console Cowboy." These days we'd just call him a hacker, though in his case his mind is fully integrated into the machine.
In Shadowrun, a 1989 table top role-playing game, a Full Dive is called jumping in, so named for the physical feeling of jumping from your body into the console. In this dystopian world, Shadowruners are corporate spies, deniable assets, hired mercenaries. They stick to the shadows and get the job done. Often times that involves hackers going into the Matrix. In Shadowrun, real world damage can easily be done to your brain if you end up on the wrong side of IC (Intrusion Countermeasures, pronounced ice). One thing I love about Shadowrun is its strict adherence to actual science that is currently being developed or is a proven possibility. Black ICE is IC that can permanently damage a human mind, causing brain death or severe brain damage, and that is something that is entirely possible.
Kind of like Digimon, but the players are mostly adults, and the story line isn't complete BS.
The concept of a full dive goes as far back as 1984, when William Gibson wrote his groundbreaking novel, Neuromancer, which spawned a new genre (Cyberpunk) and a new setting (Cyberpunk Dystopian Future). Neuromancer is also where we first hear the term "The Matrix," which is just a fancy way of saying the Internet (remember, in 1984 the Internet was in it's infancy and the term was not widely in use). The main character, one Henry Case, is what is commonly referred to as a "Console Cowboy." These days we'd just call him a hacker, though in his case his mind is fully integrated into the machine.
This is the cover...
In Shadowrun, a 1989 table top role-playing game, a Full Dive is called jumping in, so named for the physical feeling of jumping from your body into the console. In this dystopian world, Shadowruners are corporate spies, deniable assets, hired mercenaries. They stick to the shadows and get the job done. Often times that involves hackers going into the Matrix. In Shadowrun, real world damage can easily be done to your brain if you end up on the wrong side of IC (Intrusion Countermeasures, pronounced ice). One thing I love about Shadowrun is its strict adherence to actual science that is currently being developed or is a proven possibility. Black ICE is IC that can permanently damage a human mind, causing brain death or severe brain damage, and that is something that is entirely possible.
The term Full Dive was first coined by the Japanese author, Reki Kawahara, in his light novel, Sword Art Online, which was later made into an anime. SAO follows the adventures of Kirito who, along with 9,999 other players, has been trapped inside a Full Dive MMO called Sword Art Online by it's mad but brilliant creator, Kayaba Akihiko. The machine they use to put their minds into the game, called nerve gear, has been rigged to kill any user who's character dies within the game or who is forcefully logged out, via simply removing the helmet. In order to exit the game, they must clear all 100 levels and defeat all 100 bosses. The first half of the series is pretty good, the second half is not.
The basic principle behind the technology here is pretty simple in conception. Insert a device into a human brain (probably closer to the spinal cord). That device will intercept the signals which flow between the body and the brain. So, in effect, this device acts as a surrogate body, taking all the orders from the brain, and then translating those signals into the game world. Then, as the in-game "body" interacts with the environment and receives stimuli, signals are sent to the brain which give sensory feedback, including visual, olfactory, auditory, and tactile. Once perfected it will be able to simulate any stimulus you could experience in reality and, possibly, a great deal you could not. And anything you could instruct your body to do, you can instruct your in-game character to do as well, as well as things you could never do.
So, we have a pretty good idea of what a Full Dive is, where it comes from, and what it does. But what does it mean for us? Well, the first thing that probably comes to mind, and rightly so, is video games. Basically, once Full Dive technology matures, becomes affordable and widespread, video games will take a giant leap forward. Immersion is a big thing for gamers. Reaching the point in a game where you're totally invested is something almost magical. When the world feels real, when the protagonist's problems feel like your problems, when you genuinely feel like you want to help the people in the world, that's something that every game developer is always shooting for. Full Dive will make that much easier to attain.
And it certainly doesn't stop with video games. The technology has a wide range of uses, including those both benevolent and sinister. Full Dive has the potential to give a perfect, working body to people who have been denied that opportunity. Either born disfigured or crippled later in life, it would let men and women run free in the fields, play sports, fight in mock battles. On the other side of that coin, mind control is something that has been on the various world's governments for a very long. The idea of breaking into some one's mind and forcing them to comply with their wishes is nothing new, but with this technology it would be a very short leap to develop a device which would forcibly pull someone into a virtual world and manipulate them at their leisure. And I might add that when I said that the Full Dive equipment could simulate any sensation, that does not exclude pain. It might even mature to the point where a simple device will allow us to transmit feelings to awake people regardless of their physical surroundings. A pain collar for the disobedient...
That rather disheartening thought aside, I have a few more thoughts on the subject. The potential for good an ill is extreme with this technology. It can up open paths and sensations, experiences and adventures that no one could ever experience in everyday life. Have you ever dreamed about flying? I mean physically, you with no apparatus. Just flying around like superman. That's the sort of thing we could experience in a Full Dive. I also think its possible, though I acknowledge it may not be, that we could produce a Full Dive apparatus that would encourage dynamic tension while you were dived in. That would in turn strengthen your muscles and give you a work out while playing games, which is basically every gamers dream as it is. Again, maybe possible, maybe not. Full Dive is certainly coming. When it does, I'll be ready for it. Will you?
This is Sword Art Online looking ridiculously Japanese
So, we have a pretty good idea of what a Full Dive is, where it comes from, and what it does. But what does it mean for us? Well, the first thing that probably comes to mind, and rightly so, is video games. Basically, once Full Dive technology matures, becomes affordable and widespread, video games will take a giant leap forward. Immersion is a big thing for gamers. Reaching the point in a game where you're totally invested is something almost magical. When the world feels real, when the protagonist's problems feel like your problems, when you genuinely feel like you want to help the people in the world, that's something that every game developer is always shooting for. Full Dive will make that much easier to attain.
And it certainly doesn't stop with video games. The technology has a wide range of uses, including those both benevolent and sinister. Full Dive has the potential to give a perfect, working body to people who have been denied that opportunity. Either born disfigured or crippled later in life, it would let men and women run free in the fields, play sports, fight in mock battles. On the other side of that coin, mind control is something that has been on the various world's governments for a very long. The idea of breaking into some one's mind and forcing them to comply with their wishes is nothing new, but with this technology it would be a very short leap to develop a device which would forcibly pull someone into a virtual world and manipulate them at their leisure. And I might add that when I said that the Full Dive equipment could simulate any sensation, that does not exclude pain. It might even mature to the point where a simple device will allow us to transmit feelings to awake people regardless of their physical surroundings. A pain collar for the disobedient...
That rather disheartening thought aside, I have a few more thoughts on the subject. The potential for good an ill is extreme with this technology. It can up open paths and sensations, experiences and adventures that no one could ever experience in everyday life. Have you ever dreamed about flying? I mean physically, you with no apparatus. Just flying around like superman. That's the sort of thing we could experience in a Full Dive. I also think its possible, though I acknowledge it may not be, that we could produce a Full Dive apparatus that would encourage dynamic tension while you were dived in. That would in turn strengthen your muscles and give you a work out while playing games, which is basically every gamers dream as it is. Again, maybe possible, maybe not. Full Dive is certainly coming. When it does, I'll be ready for it. Will you?
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