Virtual reality and its social impact

THE IMPAC T OF ADVANCED OBJECTIVE-VIRTUAL REALITY ON THE LIFE OF MODERN SOCIETY

Throughout its development, human society has always sought to expand the possibilities of cognition, influence and control of objective and subjective realities, which, first of all, was associated with the ability to seek and apply the necessary information. This tendency is best characterized by the statement of N. M. Rothschild: "Who owns the information, he owns the world." And if earlier for the full-fledged formation of a controlled information process there was not enough some integrating link that would make it possible to realize this need of society, now the entelechy of this possibility of being has become available under the guise of expanded objective-virtual reality.

The result of the impact of this environment on the life of modern society is the widespread integration of natural forms of human activity into an expanded objective-virtual space. On the one hand, this ensured the modernization of almost all spheres of human life, and on the other hand, it formed a wide problematic area for the study of social philosophy, since this process brought cardinal changes to the information space surrounding a person.

The general problem of the current situation can be characterized by the following circumstances. First, the multiply increased flow of information was transformed from a discrete level to a continuous one, where information became possible with practically no content. Secondly, the ability to verify information was lost, and it is not always possible to determine in the current conditions where is true and where is false. Thirdly, there were changes in the very process of communication, which, in turn, provoked further social transformations.

A feature of the current situation is that the above-described process of integrating an extended objective-virtual reality into the life of modern society is, in principle, irreversible. According to N.F. Reymes, in the modern social situation, the development of a civilized society without the possibilities of an artificially generated environment seems inconceivable, since this environment determines the purposeful formation of the quality of human life. An artificially created environment, first of all, is understood as an extended objective-virtual reality.

Immanent and communicative platforms for social communication on the Internet can serve as a vivid example reflecting the essence of the problematic phenomenon caused by the activity of the aforementioned expanded objective-virtual environment. These online communications (social networks, online messengers, forums, Internet communities, e-mail, etc.) led to the emergence of special forms of sociality and social intelligence based on the Internet, which supplanted the traditional points of contact between people, based mainly on territorial ties.

Thanks to online communications, the growth of individualism in all its manifestations has intensified, where the personality is at the center of the system of social interaction. In this system, territorial, age and national barriers are completely absent. Social status, gender, mental and physical condition of a person are also not obstacles to the implementation of immanent contact on the sites of objective-virtual reality, which is provided by the Internet.

Today, social networks have become an inseparable part of practically everyone's life, and their importance is increasing all the time. Not only did this aspect contribute to the construction of a new culture and worldview among those involved in the use of this communicative medium, but it also contributed to the formation of a new culture and worldview among society as a whole. On the one hand, social networks eliminated the difficulties of conventional forms of communication connected with the geographical distance between the source and recipient of information, but on the other hand, they led to the appearance of new issues owing to an evident reliance on them.

The processes of public life provide a system that functions as a priority on the basis of the exchange of information, as well as its mutual assessment. Taking into account this circumstance, the general influence of objective-virtual reality on the life of modern society is clearly traced in the deductive assessment of changes in the main spheres of society's life - economic, social, political and spiritual.

One of the most striking manifestations of the use of objectively virtual technologies in the economic sphere is the creation in the global Internet space of a huge number of publicly accessible world and regional trading platforms. These are, for example, sites such as avito, ebay, aliexpress, etc. Using these services, you can find, buy or sell almost any product without even leaving your home. At the same time, the global location of the seller and the buyer does not really matter. It should be noted that this process would, in principle, be impossible in the absence of the possibility of global circulation of funds, which was implemented through specially created electronic virtual payment systems such as Visa, MasterCard, PayPal, etc.

Thus, speaking about the economic component of social life in the conditions of modern objective-virtual reality, we can conclude that it is characterized mainly by a service nature. At the same time, the success of technologies that eradicate the traditional approach in the socio-economic sphere, as T. A. Bondarenko argued, "is largely due to the desire of man to break out of the shackles of uniformity, which gave rise to the mechanization of the pre-computer period."

One way or another, society is experiencing significant economic transformations: there is an intensification of trade flows, ties between global and local industries are strengthening, the nature of financial ties, as well as forms of labor interaction, are clearly due to the impact of virtual reality.

When it comes to the social sphere and the impact of augmented objective-virtual reality technologies, it's important to remember that the integration process involves not only the educational system and the area of medical, but also other social institutions.

At the moment, a fairly large number of specialized multimedia complexes have been created to help in the study of literature, history, philosophy and other humanitarian subjects. Every self-respecting teacher has dozens of multimedia presentations filled with audio and visual content.

Augmented reality technologies are widely used as a means for the virtual study of real events in objective time (online), with the help of which you can conduct excursions, travel without leaving the audience. All this makes it possible not only to implement the educational process, but also to make the knowledge of the world much more effective.

Today, due to the trend of optimization of healthcare services, it is practically necessary to make an appointment with him online before visiting a doctor. To do this, just choose a convenient time and indicate the number of the health insurance policy. An online consultation with a "virtual" doctor has also become available, which is designed to provide the patient with an opportunity to make a decision about further actions in the fight against malaise, he will tell you whether to go to a hospital, and recommend treatment methods. All this became possible through the Internet service of a specific medical institution.

Augmented reality technologies represent a huge potential for people with physical and mental disabilities. Technical means of this nature carry a solution to the problem of the connection of a foreign technical prosthesis of an absent functional element of the human body with its nervous system. The implementation of these technologies made it possible to prove in practice the statements of more than half a century ago by M. McLuhan that electrical networks are an extension of our nerve endings.

At present, an example of this is the Myolimb forearm prosthesis with native control developed at the Bauman Moscow State Technical University.

The enhanced objective-virtual reality's capabilities began to be actively exploited in the socio-political sector of society's existence. Information and communication technologies provide each person a sense of autonomy, allowing him to tailor his own communications to his specific needs.
Over the past few years, there has been ample evidence for the process described above. There are clear trends in the development and implementation of the above technologies in the process of interaction between society and the individual with government agencies. This phenomenon is reflected in the creation by state bodies of their online services, the main task of which is to disclose information about the work of a particular state institution, to provide an opportunity to contact a certain official, etc. Examples of this kind include online services for checking fines, information on property pledges, etc.

Information and communication technologies of objectively expanded virtual reality have not spared the spiritual sphere either. Elements of this kind find a fairly diverse application in religion, culture, and are also used as an auxiliary tool in the formation of social consciousness. The most striking changes in the spiritual sphere can be observed by examining the influence of augmented objective-virtual reality on religious life.

As a form of public consciousness, religion over the period of its history has been a structure not only rejecting, but also to a greater extent opposing technological innovations. Today, the opposite is observed - the primate of the Roman Catholic Church is registered on the social network Twitter and communicates with the people through his account.

Thanks to the technologies of augmented objective-virtual reality, a person has the opportunity to visit museums, exhibitions, exchange impressions, opinions, leave notes in comments to the material, visit WE-pages on topics of interest to him in absentia, and at the same time create his own. Currently, a large number of Internet sites and communities of social services have emerged through which people exchange knowledge.

Thus, the technologies of augmented reality provided a person with the ability to understand the world and even manage it in a slightly different, expanded view with direct interactive participation in the process of cultural genesis. Objective-virtual technologies have transformed the traditional way of life of a person into an immanent, continuous phenomenon, having taken root in almost every social process in the form of an intermediary.

As a result of this global process, objective reality is replaced in a somewhat modified way, where many aspects of interpersonal relations are simplified, the spiritual image of our society and its value system are changing. The ever-increasing flow of information affecting a person's consciousness constantly expands the boundaries of his perception, which, first of all, is associated with the visualization of this information.

These circumstances indicate that the most ancient need of people in the development and management of information flows has now begun not only to be realized, but also to acquire new forms of social interaction, affecting, first of all, the communication process. And all this began to happen only as a result of the integration of objective-virtual reality technologies into the life of society.