Are we living in a Simulation?
Who knows … but as an artist on a journey into the depths of reality and as a designer creating immersive experiences, it's one of those questions that pop up regularly. On some days, I think we are living in a simulation; on other days, I think we are most likely not living in a simulation. However, this post is not going to pursue you in either direction. This post should help you (if you're willing to go down the simulation rabbit hole) create a self-experiment in which you explore, for one week, living in a simulation. A hands-on experiment needs hands-on research questions. I started this journey into a simulated world with the following question: How can we construct an experiment that would allow us to explore living in a simulation?
To answer the question above, I applied the following approach:
First, we need to change our perspective regarding what reality we are living in. From the assumption that we are not living in a simulation to the assumption that we are living in a simulation.
Second, once we have changed our perspective, then each interaction with our environment is an interaction with a simulation. Based on this idea, I developed the following experiment called Sensing Reality. I'll switch to the third-person perspective to make it sound scientific (without claiming it has anything to do with hard or soft science).
Experiment description:
Sensing Reality is an experienceable thought experiment based in a simulated natural environment. It requires the experimenter (you, the dear reader) to spend five days, isolated, somewhere in nature. Before the experiment can start, the participant needs to accept that everything she will experience during the investigation is happening in a fully simulated version of nature. The participant needs to observe and describe each interaction she has with a perfect simulation in order to feel how it is to live in a simulation. After five days of persistently observing and describing every interaction with the simulation, the participant needs to acknowledge the end of the experiment, to switch from the perfectly simulated reality back to the non-simulated reality.
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Experiment requirements:
Artefact: The participant must keep a logbook describing every interaction with the environment. The experiment journal helps track all the sensory input during the time spent in the simulation.
Location: It is essential to look for a location off the electrical grid, as any interference coming through mediated environments might alter the output of the experience without the participant's knowledge. It is advised not to interact with other human beings as the interactions are highly complex, as any subconscious attempt to capture all the senses and mind process would overcomplicate the experiment.
Duration: To collect enough data, prolonged exposure to a simulated reality is advisable. Five days seem sufficient to compare different days and allow for a general conclusion to be drawn. A time period of fewer than five days might not be adequate for our mind to fully grasp the new mental framework, while more than five days might change our entire perception and possibly lead us to believe we are living in a simulation.
Safety considerations: It is advised to buy enough food and drinks so that one does not need to leave the pre-defined premise of the experiment location. It is recommended to take a phone with for emergencies. Please inform the author of this blog or someone trusted with information about the intended area and approximate date of return.
Who should try it out? Initially, this self-experiment was not designed with an audience in mind. In retrospect, this self-experiment is recommended to designers working in the field of XR, as it lays a solid foundation for understanding how we interact with the environment. In addition, the author of this study recommends the self-experiment to futurists, philosophers, computer scientists, artists, interaction designers, and psychologists researching the topic of human-computer and human-world interactions.
Post Experiment Description. This blog's author kindly invites the experimenter to share his or her "Sensing Reality" experience on this blog or any other medium. Depending on the future, the experiences conceived during the experiment might be of relevance.
My experience of living in a simulation
I can't propose a self-experiment for anyone without trying it out. Since it's about my personal experience, I thought now is the moment to switch back to the first-person view. During the experiment, I kept thoroughly track of all sensory interactions with the simulated environment. The captured sensory inputs were: sight, audition, gustation, olfaction, and somatic (touch, position and movement, and haptic sensations).
The figure above shows the first page of day three of the experiment logbook. Every sensory interaction was described by its relationship to the object generating the input and the immediate and longer-lasting effects it had on the well-being of the participant. In addition, there was one column for general comments relating to thoughts, ideas, and feelings. Around 250 sensory interactions were protocolled per day, amounting to over 1250 registered interactions with the simulation.
Location
The self-experiment was conducted in an old stone hut built around 1880 by a local hunter called Gian-Marchet Colani in the Roseg Valley, Switzerland. A forty-minute walk was required to get to the next village, Pontresina. There was no electricity or running water. Drinking water could only be fetched from a spring located roughly 500 meters from the hut. The altitude of the simulation was 1830 meters above sea level.
Evaluation
After analyzing the 1250 registered sensory touchpoints it became clear that the interactions coming from the somatic senses, which include senses of touch, proprioception (the sense of position and movement), and haptic perception, were key drivers in forming my perception of 'reality.' No other sensory organ accounted for more registered interactions with the simulation. This led me to the following interpretation: sensory information coming from the somatic senses are the building blocks that made the simulation tangible. Virtual and XR experiences that only rely on vision and audio sensory feedback stay intangible. A future that blurs the lines between real and virtual needs to be tangible. For thought experiments to be immersive, to allow us to feel a strong sense of presence we need to be able to touch them. This concept became a key factor when I would start to develop new experiences.
A second insight while being in the simulation was those moments in which all the senses were producing perceivable data would tend to generate a strong feeling of being alive and fully present in the simulation.
For example, every day, I took a dip into the river close by. The water came from the glacier located 2.5km up the valley; thus it was freezing cold. While immersed in the water, it felt like the entire body was going through some kind of catharsis where each nerve was stimulated, leading to the feeling of absolute certainty that the simulation was real. The reference image above was from the exact location but during a different experiment.
To conclude this journey into the depths of a reality: Does it really matter in what reality we're in? For me, it is a no, as long as I can dive into ice-cold water, dazzling all my senses. Life is about metaphorical moments when you are in sync with all that was, that is, and that will be.
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