In the new book Infinite Reality: Avatars, Eternal Life, New Worlds, and the Dawn of the Virtual Revolution, Jim Blascovich and Jeremy Bailenson take readers on a journey through the virtual universe. They explore how the applications of this emerging technology have the potential to change human life and society.

UIC Electronic Visualization Laboratory’s work in Project LifeLike is highlighted, among other virtual experiences being researched at other institutions, including USC’s Institute for Creative Technology, Stanford’s Virtual Human Interaction Lab, and University of Washington’s HITLab.

The Wall Street Journal profiled the book in its blog on April 5, 2011. Photos of Alex, both the actual man and his virtual avatar that was created by Project LifeLike, appear in an accompanying slideshow.

Book available at Amazon.com

About Project LifeLike
Project LifeLike is a collaboration between the Electronic Visualization Laboratory (EVL) and Communications Department at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) and the Intelligent Systems Laboratory (ISL) at the University of Central Florida (UCF), and receives major funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF). This collaborative research project involves the development of user-friendly natural computer interfaces to enable people to interact with a realistic-looking 3D virtual avatar; more specifically, integrating visualization, natural language processing and knowledge base systems to create a real human-like communication interface. More information

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