Reality Askew

** This is very much a work-in-progress **  I started it a while back but it sat in a “draft” form and decided to push it out and work on it live.

Timeless – not affected by the passage of time.

Immortality, since the dawn of man it’s been the driving desire of an entire race.  Death is final in a way we cannot comprehend so we create avenues for embracing the inevitable.  Some even spend a lifetime creating a legacy to ensure they live on in spirit.  What if I told you it’s now possible to leave a representation of oneself that your immediate and future generations can interact with?  Imagine after you pass away your loved ones can still virtually interact with you.  For instance your wife or husband comes home and they are greeted by your face on a monitor saying “welcome home sweetheart.  How was your day?”  This could simply be achieved with rudimentary recordings and facial recognition software.  This technology exists today but has not been adapted to this logical next step.

But beyond loved ones, what about professionals?  Imagine you are a physicist or scientist of some sort.  You could essentially do a knowledge dump for future generations to access.  Many years from now the virtual you could even continue to formulate and theorize based on your collective knowledge.  Sorry this does not mean you finally get that 3rd doctorate you wanted. :P

Phase 1:  Recording

You would have to record a wide range of voice recordings.  These would have to encompass a very long and structured representation of every day conversation.

1.  Daily Events
   1. Welcome home
   2. How was your day
   3. How are the kids doing
2. Questions
   1. Dad what should I do about girls/finances/life/love
   2. How can you tell which way is north when you are in the woods
   3. What was it like in the Army
3. Emotions
   1. I really miss you dear
   2. I’m sorry I left you alone
   3. Marrying you made me the happiest man/woman alive
4. Knowledge Dump
   1. These recordings would have to be laid out by the subject and then recorded in a very detailed manner.  The accuracy and depth of these recordings would determine their usefulness in the future.
5. Jokes
   1. If the person is a humorous sort then it will be important for them to record tons of jokes.  I know this sounds silly but I think from a psychology standpoint it will help with the healing process.

Phase 2:  Facial and Voice Recognition

Voice and facial recognition exists today but would have to be refined even more for this application.  You would want the virtual you to respond to changes in the person’s face and recognize pain, hurt, fear, sadness, etc.  Then appropriate recorded comments could be pulled up and delivered.

Phase 3:  Basic AI

Basic AI integration that “learns” and remembers the conversations you have had.  It would evolve in a sense.  You might sit down and discuss an impending marriage and the virtual relative would remember this.  Future conversations could now revolve around or touch on this event.  This would happen even if the subject had never recorded the conversations about this subject.  The computer would learn their speech patterns from the recorded pieces and synthesize new words to match the original subjects voice.  This would also apply for the actual image of the original subject.  As computer processes and applications evolved, the computer system would access the recording and make a virtual you for your relatives to interact with.  At first this might be really clunky, but as time progressed you would become, well more alive.

Phase 4:  Full Virtualization

At some distant time in the future, I predict we won’t leave our homes much if ever.  Society will gradually become more and more virtualized.  You will go to work by jacking into your virtual workspace and have virtual meetings.  When this happens, your virtual self will reach a point of being “real” again.

General Notes:

1. The subject should always record in front of a green screen.  This would likely have to be something we send them in their “Timeless” kit.  Having them film in front of a green screen means we can superimpose whatever we want behind them.  At first you could simply have them standing in front of their favorite motorcycle or tell the computer to put them on a beach.  Later as technology progress you could probably have your virtual loved one superimposed into a video you took on holiday.
2. Speaking of filming. I thought it was important that the subject also go to a facility that has one of those full body scanners.  This would not be so important earlier on, but later when they are being put into videos it would help the computer know their actual dimensions.  I figure most people will just want to select a “hotter” version of their body for their head to be put on.  All joking aside I’m serious, they will want this.  Vanity will transcend death.
3. I’m trying to get the domain Timeless.life.  It’s available but have to wait until next payday. :)
4. Another interesting idea is to record the subjects favorite cologne or perfume and somehow synthesize this to give the viewer with a sense of aromatic familiarity.