Reengineering reality is a blog I wanted to start to pull together my thoughts on how and why we are living in a world where we increasingly spend our time in online, augmented, alternate reality and how this alternate reality slowly replaces the real real.

This blog is not going dive deep into different philosophical views on the nature of reality and the relationship between the mind and reality. Similarly I won’t try to prove or reject we (already) live in a computer simulation. Instead I want to raise a more mundane question: Are we building a simulated reality in front of our senses and our minds and simply forget to realize this is happening?

In my PhD research on end-user programming of ambient narratives for smart retail environments I already discovered how deep our desire is to surround ourselves in rich, immersive storytelling environments. In Philips Research we developed a basic game engine that would control the sensors and actuators in the physical space and that could be programmed by end-users to transform how the space would react to people, objects and story line. The technology inspired the developed of the technology platform behind Philips Retail Solutions to power interactive, immersive, multi-sensorial experiences. Eventually we had to stop but the idea never left me completely. During the Covid-19 pandemic I realised on some days I spent most of my time online in Teams meetings and watching Netflix, YouTube and playing video games. Thankfully the Covid-19 pandemic is over, but reality has not fully returned to pre-Covid-19 times…

The high-tech industry seems to develop in a rapid pace for outsiders. What most people forget is that all major technological innovations have started decades before in scientific and applied research and development and are the combined efforts of thousands of people. Books, blogs, podcasts on Internet, augmented and virtual reality are often outdated soon after they are published because they focus on the now and lose track of the bigger picture. The Metaverse is a trending on one day when Facebook announces to change its name to Meta but months later people ask if the Metaverse is still alive. On the surface it seems trends quickly succeed each other, but the forces below the surface are slow but relentless. These currents are more important than the trends to understand and see what is happening and what is likely to happen. These currents are hard to find, even for experts because scientists, entrepreneurs and engineers are often rewarded by specializing themselves, not by generalizing themeselves and trying to understand bigger systems.

The transition into a true simulated reality that is indistuishable from the real is happening in front of our eyes and is a slow, gradual and unstoppable process like an ice glacier that finds its way. It is inevitable and unstoppable because of our insatiable curiosity to share experiences and stories that started millenia ago and it is what makes us human. We use the tools we have to share these experiences. We could try to formulate hypotheses that we then either prove or reject scientifically to explain why this phenomenon is happening or we could elaborate on the possible negative effects on our society of a simulated reality but would this change the course of the development of a true simulated reality?

The best strategy is to change the course for the better: What if we take a pragmatic design and engineering approach to focus on the goals we want to achieve with a true simulated reality to ensure it is designed around our needs?

What kind of evidence is there that we are re-engineering reality?

Why are we building these virtual and augmented realities?

What will we do in a true metaverse that appears so real we forget it is not real?

What constraints and requirements do we place on the design?

What are the benefits and risks and how do we make sure it is sustainable, resilient, inclusive and better than the reality we know?

I hope you enjoy the posts on Reengineering Reality and invite you to add your comments and views to continue the journey.

Mark van Doorn