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Jaron Lanier (born 1960) is a virtual reality developer. He was a pioneer in, and popularized the term "Virtual Reality" (VR) in the early 1980s ^[1]. At that time, he founded VPL Research, the first company to sell VR products. ^[2]

Contents 1 Early life and education 2 Career 3 Philosophical and technological ideas 4 Works 5 Sources 6 Further reading

Lanier was born in New York City, but raised in Mesilla, New Mexico.^[3] On May 18, 2006, Lanier received a Degree of Doctor of Science, honoris causa, from the New Jersey Institute of Technology.^[4]

Lanier has appeared in several documentaries, including the 1992 Danish television documentary Computerbilleder - udfordring til virkeligheden,^[5] the 1995 documentary Synthetic Pleasures,^[5] and the 2004 television documentary Rage Against the Machines.^[5] Lanier was credited as one of the miscellaneous crew for the 2002 film Minority Report.^[5] Lanier stated that his role was to help make up the gadgets and scenarios.^[6]

In mid-1997, Lanier was a founding member of the National Tele-Immersion Initiative,^[7] an effort devoted to utilizing computer technology to give people who are separated by great distances the illusion that they are physically together. Lanier is a member of the Global Business Network.^[8]

In 1994, Lanier released the classical music album Instruments of Change.^[9] Lanier is currently working on the book Technology and the Future of the Human Soul, ^[6] and the music album Proof of Consciousness, a collaboration with Mark Deutsch.^[10]

Lanier taught at several computer science departments of universities around the US, including Columbia, Dartmouth, and Yale.^{[citation needed]}

In addition to his thoughts on virtual reality and teleimmersion, Lanier has criticized certain aspects of artificial intelligence on the one hand, and the nuanced ramifications of unbridled extropianism on the other.^{[citation needed]}

Some of Lanier's speculation involves what he dubbed "post-symbolic communication." An example is found in the April 2006 issue of Discover, in his column on cephalopods (i.e., the various species of octopus, squid, and related molluscs).^[11] Many cephalopods are able to morph their bodies, including changing the pigmentation and texture of their skin, as well as forming complex shape imitations with their limbs. Lanier sees this behavior, especially as exchanged between two octopuses, as a direct behavioral expression of thought.

In Edge magazine in May 2006, Lanier criticized the sometimes-claimed omniscience of collective wisdom (including expressions such as Wikipedia with the article about him as an example), describing it as "digital Maoism".^[12] He writes "If we start to believe that the Internet itself is an entity that has something to say, we're devaluing those people [creating the content] and making ourselves into idiots."^[12] This critique is further explored in an interview with him at the Philosopher's Zone where he is critical of the denatured effect which "removes the scent of people".^[13]

In December 2006 Lanier followed up his critique of the collective wisdom with an article in Edge Magazine with a warning about the online collective. In the article Beware the Online Collective Lanier writes:

I wonder if some aspect of human nature evolved in the context of competing packs. We might be genetically wired to be vulnerable to the lure of the mob. and that What's to stop an online mass of anonymous but connected people from suddenly turning into a mean mob, just like masses of people have time and time again in the history of every human culture? It's amazing that details in the design of online software can bring out such varied potentials in human behavior. It's time to think about that power on a moral basis.

Classical music:

• Instruments of Change (1994)

Video Games:

• Moondust -- C64
• Alien Garden -- Atari 800

1. ^ http://www.jaronlanier.com/general.html
2. ^ http://cultronix.eserver.org/chesher/
3. ^ Burkeman, Oliver. "The virtual visionary", Guardian Unlimited, 2001-12-29.
4. ^ NJIT (2006-05-19). NJIT Conferred 2,063 Degrees during 2006 Commencement: Gov. Jon Corzine Given Honorary Degree. Press release. Retrieved on 2006-07-08.
5. ^ ^{a b c d} Jaron Lanier. IMDb. Retrieved on July 5, 2006.
6. ^ ^{a b} Brief Biography of Jaron Lanier. Homepage of Jaron Lanier. Retrieved on July 8, 2006.
7. ^ National Tele-Immersion Initiative. Advanced Network & Services, Inc.. Retrieved on July 5, 2006.
8. ^ Individual GBN Members. Global Business Network. Retrieved on July 5, 2006.
9. ^ Lanier, Jaron (1994). Instruments of Change. Polygram Records. ASIN B00000418Q. 
10. ^ Jaron Lanier's Music Reel. Homepage of Jaron Lanier. Retrieved on July 18, 2006.
11. ^ Lanier, Jaron. "Why not morph? What cephalopods can teach us about language", Discover, April 2006.
12. ^ ^{a b} Lanier, Jaron. "Digital Maoism: The Hazards of the New Online Collectivism", Edge, 2006-05-30.
13. ^ Lanier, Jaron. "Is a free market in ideas a good idea?", Philosopher's Zone, ABC National Radio, 2006-07-08.

• Jaron Lanier's Homepage
• Cave, Damien. "Artificial stupidity", salon.com, 2000-10-04.
• Garreau, Joel (2005). Radical Evolution: The promise and peril of enhancing our minds, our bodies -- and what it means to be human. New York: Doubleday. ISBN 0-385-50965-0.  [Lanier and his theories are prominently featured in the section Prevail]

Biographies:

• Edge: JARON LANIER
• Cato Unbound: Jaron Lanier

Speeches:

• 'Finding Humanity in the Interface: Capacity Atrophy or Augmentation?' A debate between Jaron Lanier and Will Wright from the Accelerating Change 2004 conference.
• Video of Jaron Lanier speaking at a Film Festival
• Video of Jaron Lanier's "McLuhan Ramp" Lecture

Interviews:

• Interview with Jaron Lanier on Music
• Coding from Scratch: A Conversation with Jaron Lanier, Part 1
• The Future of Virtual Reality: A Conversation with Jaron Lanier, Part 2
• Brown, David Jay; Novick, Rebecca McClen (1995). Voices from the edge: Conversations with Jerry Garcia, Ram Dass, Annie Sprinkle, Matthew Fox, Jaron Lanier, & others. Freedom, CA: Crossing Press. ISBN 0-89594-732-3. 
• Interview by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Counterpoint program; Lanier strongly criticises both wikipedia and singularitarianism