Do we live in a virtual reality simulation created by an alien wunderkind? How could we tell the difference between what we perceive to be the real world and a digital re-creation? While still in his teens, Jules Urbach (Founder and CEO of OTOY, Inc) designed and sold hugely successful video games. He declined an invitation to attend Harvard, and focused instead on the development of cutting-edge technologies that subsequently revolutionized movies, television, and streaming networks, and fueled the explosion of virtual reality endeavors. His companies have earned Oscars and accolades for the digital effects in hugely successful film franchises (the Marvel movies, Avatar, Disney) but his most important accomplishments are still unfolding. Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality hold enormous promise for our planet, but Jules thinks the day is coming when we may not be able to tell the difference between real life and its artificial alternatives. It is likely that many people might prefer to live in a virtual world, though Jules hopes that isn't the case.
In this mind-bending discussion with Jeremy and George, Jules speculates on the future of human evolution, how a melding of people and machines is already underway, and where it might lead. Virtual Reality tech, combined with powerful A.I. could eventually mean that humans could evolve into non-physical super-beings, real but invisible. And if there are vastly older alien civilizations elsewhere in the universe, they might have made a similar transformation eons ago.
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