Foucault considered societies in the 18^th and 19^th centuries as disciplinary societies. The progression of the individual was monotonously linear, transiting from one closed environment to another. The family nurtures and shelters the child. Subsequently, when the child is matured and strong enough, he has to leave the family to enter the school and expand his mental capabilities. Upon achieving a suitable state of intelligence, he has to graduate from the school and enter the workforce in order to apply his newly acquired skills and knowledge. The human society was carefully segmented in an orderly fashion to achieve the highest order of efficiency and conformity.

The rapid technological advancement since the late 20^th century has caused human civilization to evolve with greater sophistication. The power and influence of modern-day technological tools have blurred the boundaries of previously distinct institutions. Encroachment of one domain into other domains, whether related or otherwise, is the latest phenomenon which is developing in modern-day societies. A father who is busy at work can ensure the safety of his child at home through a home webcam installation. Internet collaborative tools have made it possible for people to work from home. Foucalt proposed that the human society has progressed from a disciplinary society to a society of control. The system or mechanism driving processes of the society is no longer closed, but has transcended to a level where free-floating forces generated by individuals or entities affect and change the system.

From a holistic point of view, the human identity is increasingly codified with the aid of technology. As proof of belonging to an institution, one is identifiable by an ID card which composes of alphanumerical characters. The location of a person can be tracked using GPS if he owns a mobile phone. Similarly, Internet users are identifiable by their IP address. Telecommunication signals are manipulated to encode and decode information of a person. The financial status of a person is codified within the internal workings of bank accounts and credit card. Human beings have become excessively reliant on technological tools that without them, the society ceases to function. Stock market crashes result in millions of dollars lost. A computer virus wipes out entire work processes. A glitch in the telecommunication network plunges the society back to ancient times when transmitting of messages was inefficient.

Frustration kicks in if our technological tools fail us

Human beings have to embrace technology or risk being left behind. The over-reliance on technology has caused the people to become ignorant of the associated drawbacks and repercussions. Seldom do we grapple with the ethical concerns of privacy intrusion and data persistence, until something bad happens to us such as a personal computer being hacked with malicious intent. Are we really fine with the fact that we can be tracked by anyone in the world if he has access to our GPS location or IP address? Technology has brought the world closer but at what expense? In the film Minority Report, a sophisticated crime prevention system was invented by harnessing the power of individuals with precognition abilities. Is it ethical to exploit technology and track each and every person in society? How far should we allow technology to affect our lives?

A short video clip of Minority Report's "Precrime" technology

Another aspect of technology which is gradually overflowing into the physical space is gamification of everyday items or events. When Tamogotchi was released in 1996, it sparked off a worldwide trend to buy the virtual pets. Unlike a physical pet, a virtual pet requires lesser commitment and to a certain extent, removes the pain or guilt when it inevitably dies. Conveyor belt themed sushi restaurants in Japan allow the diner to play a fun mini-game according to the number of sushi which he has consumed. Recently, I was told by a friend that even toilets are gamified – when using the urinal, the male has to concentrate his aim on a target to achieve a high score. Alternate or augmented reality game is a hot topic for researchers nowadays. Recently, the gaming giants of Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony released their respective vision, namely Wii, Kinect and Playstation Move, for their console systems. No longer is the player confined to a fixed position, tapping inputs in controllers of high abstraction, but is increasingly mirrored to mimick real-life processes in order to provide a wholesome, realistic experience to the player.

The frontier of modern-day gaming

The term “virtual reality” is inherently contradicting because a virtual experience is a form of escapism from reality and one returns to reality when it exits the virtual environment. However, I think that the inventor of the term predicted that virtual environments would eventually become reality itself. Are we ready to embrace such a future? Robotic humanoids and virtual pets replace their respective flesh counterparts. Every process in society becomes a game. Technology is a wonderful boon to humanity but the human touch can never be replicated, at least by today’s standard of virtual reality. In fact, the simplicities of life can be easily achievable without a need for technology, but are often overlooked and neglected in a technologically-wired society. Embrace technology but never forget the importance and significance of the roots of humanity.