Just Saw Avator

[HRacct]

For other reasons, I have just saw Avator the last week of May with my wife, and REALLY enjoyed it much. The last time I was so taken in by a show was Jurassic Park with that dino eating leaves from the tree scene at the start of the show. It was just amazing to see. That is what I thought of with this show from the very start. But I do have a question about it.

Now, I do seem to have a somewhat disconnect with some of you "hard-liners" out there. I do view and enjoy S/F as escapist entertainment, but still do enjoy a good fantasy storyline. I like to be drawn into the story and enjoy all of it for just what it is, entertainment. I do try and put aside all political, cultural, and religious intent and just enjoy the show. I don't care if panthesim can be gleened out of Star Wars, for example, just enjoy the show.

Now that all my disclaimers are out there, my question has to do with the avators of the crew, just as if it WAS REAL!! I know what these things are in a computer generated world, and how some people could like to be that person instead of themselves in the real world. But according to the storyline, how would this work on that planet? Their "real" bodies would be in that incubation like chamber while their avator roamed the planet, with just a mental link? Is there a book out about that as well, to look for the answers?

Another question that comes to mind, their "real" bodies would be in rest mode while their avator was running around, and just the reverse when out? Then they could really be on the go around the clock, and never run down. But what about their minds, when would that part rest? But, PLEASE, don't take it so serious.

Now, like I said, this is just entainment, but I was wondering these things about the show. I also really enjoyed the details the CGI part included. That really made it so real. Thanks, Henry

 

[bdewoody]

Like you I just watched this movie yesterday. I liked it more than I thought I would. Being handicapped myself I can see how a disabled person would like the avatar scenario to extreme, I sure would. To me the only negative was the over used general plot, too close to Alien and district 9

 

[docm]

This would work by using a BMI - brain machine interface - that could link up all the brains motor functions to the remote avatar via an RF link, keeping the thought processes local.

Believe it or not there is work on doing this and great advances have been made, especially in the last few months. 3 years ago a monkey was connected to a wired BMI that drove a robotic arm and he was able to feed himself with significant dexterity. No need to be taught, he learned how to use it himself in a few days.

An experiment in Japan showed rather firmly that humans are just as adaptable; a group of college students were equipped with very basic wired "avatar" connections with virtual vision goggles wired to a robots "eyes". Lickity split the humans were behaving as if the robot was their body and not just a remote appliance.

Interfaces are moving very, very fast. Just recently the need for solid pin electrode arrays stuck into the surface of the brain fell by the wayside when a thin, form-fitting array that would mold itself to the brains surface was developed. IMO this too will fall to high resolution, and highly directional, sensors outside the skull rather quickly - perhaps under the skin. Early on it'll just be for prosthetics, but down the road who knows?

Work on a Bluetooth-like wireless control for bionic limbs is progressing and so is the use of other wireless alternatives. One of these could involve quantum teleportation - Einsteins 'spooky action at a distance'. Two atoms, ions or photons are entangled, sharing quantum states, then separated a long distance where whatever happens to one is reflected by the other - in principle it could work at a few inches or across the universe.

A Chinese group just did this with the entangled pair of photons 16 kilometers apart. Now use enough pairs to transmit the 1's and 0's required for BMI control signals.

As fast as this has been moving I wouldn't bet against anything the Sci-Fi guys come up with.

 

[andrew_t1000]

I bought the Blue-Ray the day it came out, I've watched it half a dozen times now.
I thought it was great!

Only thing was, in all the reviews etc, no one mentions the "white man turning paradise into a smoking hole in the ground", a bit depressing Jim thinks we will not mature enough to learn from our mistakes here.

I'm sure the people on Bouganville or the poor bastards in West Irian, near the Oc'teddi mine could relate to Avatar.

On the other hand, the idea of a naturally occurring room temperature super conductor would solve a lot of problems on many levels.
Lets hope unobtainium is eventually obtainable!

 

[nimbus]

I bought the Blue-Ray the day it came out, I've watched it half a dozen times now.
I thought it was great!

Only thing was, in all the reviews etc, no one mentions the "white man turning paradise into a smoking hole in the ground", a bit depressing Jim thinks we will not mature enough to learn from our mistakes here.

I'm sure the people on Bouganville or the poor bastards in West Irian, near the Oc'teddi mine could relate to Avatar.

On the other hand, the idea of a naturally occurring room temperature super conductor would solve a lot of problems on many levels.
Lets hope unobtainium is eventually obtainable!

Not sure it's definitely him thinking we won't be mature enough to learn from mistakes, so much as a cautionary parable.

The smoking hole angle got some indirect criticism from Ray Kurzweil.

 

[bdewoody]

btw its spelled AVATAR

 

[yevaud]

Doc, yeah, the experiment with the Monkey operating a robotic arm was at the Brockton Mass VA hospital.

 

[nimbus]

That general experiment's been worked on for a while now. I first heard of one back in ~2002 from a graduate friend at ASU.

 

[StarRider1701]

Now that all my disclaimers are out there, my question has to do with the avators of the crew, just as if it WAS REAL!! I know what these things are in a computer generated world, and how some people could like to be that person instead of themselves in the real world. But according to the storyline, how would this work on that planet? Their "real" bodies would be in that incubation like chamber while their avator roamed the planet, with just a mental link? Is there a book out about that as well, to look for the answers?

Another question that comes to mind, their "real" bodies would be in rest mode while their avator was running around, and just the reverse when out? Then they could really be on the go around the clock, and never run down. But what about their minds, when would that part rest? But, PLEASE, don't take it so serious.

I too just recently saw Avatar and loved it. Yes, somehow the chamber disconnects thier real bodies motor functions and those impulses go to the body of the Avatar, making it stand, walk, run, etc when the mind thinks it so.

Yes, the mind would eventually run down and could maybe even be damaged. Remember in the show when she had to force him to eat and stay out of the chamber? Obviously one can overdo it. Given that the technology was already in place and apparently had been used for years at the time of the movie, they probably learned that the hard way years before. Clearly the blue people were used to interacting with human made Na'vi.

 

[HRacct]

Thanks for all the thoughts. Yea, I kinda of thot I spelled the name wrong, but I didn't want to get up and find how it was supposed to be spelled.

Docm, you are a wealth of knowledge as usual. I do remember hearing about some of the items you mentioned. But what was scary to me was that with some of the general quantum research I have done, I even understood some of what you said there. But I really did not know so much of that stuff was so current. Reminds me of something I read that says, today's s/f is tomorrow's science fact.

 

[docm]

It moves fast indeed. Just in the last day or so a group announced that they had created an ELED - entangled light emitting diode - that could be used in quantum computers. This produces not just a few entangled photons but bunches of them.

I put the post in Physics.