This book is about the future of computers, programming and the
Internet. It's a book of generalisations and inspirations:
you will need to loosen up your mental limbs and joints before
reading on...
The Internet and the Web delivered a globally-interlinked mesh
of instant information.
The Reality Web will deliver a globally-interlinked mesh of
'engineered reality'. In the Reality Web, computers merge into
your surroundings.
A key characteristic of this Reality Web is that you either
don't know or don't care what is real and what is generated by
computers and software...
This book gives a taste of what it will be like to live in such
a world, where the technology of the Reality Web is pervasive
and ubiquitous. It explores how an open and free
Reality Web will enhance our personal lives ('shopping,
shooting and sharing'), and our education and work lives.
The Reality Web augments our environment with a highly flexible
and controllable, seamless 'fabric' of merged and unified
technologies.
However, like any technology, the Reality Web may be used for
good or for harm, and this book covers some of the social,
legal, political and commercial implications of its adoption,
including the need to maintain the rights we in the Western
world take for granted: freedom, privacy and anonymity..
Who programs the Reality Web? What is an appropriate balance
between the interests of the major corporate and government
players and the interests of the individual? New business
models for media generation will be needed in an environment
where experiencing what your friend is experiencing 'comes with
the package'. The place of open standards, open source
programs, copyrights and patents in the Reality Web is examined.
The Reality Web brings with it some profound technical, social,
legal, political and commercial upsets. If we want to live in
a world where the Reality Epoch isn't replaced by the End Of
Freedom Epoch, those upsets should be embraced, not fought or
avoided. If you're interested in where the
globally-interconnected, pervasive computing of the new
millennium could go, and where it may need pointing, this book
is for you.
In this book, I first discuss the nature and challenges of the
technology, then present my own blueprints for it:
Part I covers the elements that make up
this Reality Web, including existing work in virtual worlds,
virtual and augmented reality, cyberspace, metaverses,
multiplayer online games, work in pervasive, ubiquitous and
grid computing, logics, programming languages and various
Internet technologies, including peer-to-peer file sharing and
encryption.
The author has been designing and prototyping Reality Web
technology throughout his career, culminating in a set of
technological proposals he calls the 'Psilog Project'. Part
II of this book describes the goals of the Psilog Project
and its unique approaches to implementing free, ubiquitous,
programmable, engineered realities.