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Virtual Reality and Control Displacement

Virtual reality allows memories to be reused in new contexts. In specific, virtual reality allows repurposing of familiarity with sophisticated control systems. So long as the interface for the control system is kept the same, one can use it to control a remote device. Ideally, the device being controlled has the same interface for the control system, so that the device can control itself (e.g. a steering wheel for a car). If the controlling device and the controlled device share the same interface, then virtual reality enables a displacement of control that requires no further training. If someone knows how to use the device standalone, they know how to use the device to control another device.

Control displacement allows a natural way to remotely control devices. For example, a person wearing a virtual reality headset in a Tesla car could control another Tesla car if the sensor data from the target vehicle is fused in the virtual world. While control displacement in the physical world is interesting and opens up new possibilities in robotics and infrastructure management, control displacement in the digital world is just as interesting. Control displacement is in essence a direct way to communicate with any artificial intelligence training system. An artificial intelligence can generate a scenario and an operator can provide feedback via a standard interface. And all of this is done in a way that feels no different than an operator naturally operating the system. Displaced control in essence serves as a bridge for a digital system to learn about the inherent chaos in the physical world.

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