implement mmmfs on real fs

2 files changed, 543 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/root/articles/realities/description: text$plain b/root/articles/realities/description: text$plain
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+exploring the nesting relationships of virtual and other realities
diff --git a/root/articles/realities/text$moonscript -> mmm$dom.moon b/root/articles/realities/text$moonscript -> mmm$dom.moon
new file mode 100644
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+import elements from require 'mmm.component'
+import h1, h2, p, a, i, div, ol, li, br, hr, span, button, section, article from elements
+
+_content = div!
+append = _content\append
+
+if MODE == 'SERVER'
+  export ^
+  class Diagram
+    style = {
+      display: 'inline-block',
+      width: '150px',
+      height: '80px',
+      'line-height': '80px',
+      color: '#fff',
+      background: '#666',
+    }
+
+    @id = 1
+    new: (@func) =>
+      @id = "diagram-#{@@id}"
+      @@id += 1
+
+    render: =>
+      rplc = with div id: @id, :style
+        \append '(diagram goes here)'
+        -- \append "<script type=\"application/lua\">
+        --   local rplc = js.global.document:getElementById('#{@id}');
+        --   local fn = #{compile @func}
+        --   diag = Diagram(fn)
+        --   rplc.parentNode:replaceChild(diag.node, rplc)
+        -- </script>"
+      rplc\render!
+
+if MODE == 'CLIENT'
+  export ^
+  export o
+  eval = js.global\eval
+  GRID_W = 50
+  GRID_H = 40
+
+  SVG =
+    doc: eval "(function() { return SVG(document.createElement('svg')); })",
+    G: eval "(function() { return new SVG.G(); })",
+  setmetatable SVG, __call: => @doc!
+
+  o = do
+    mkobj = eval "(function () { return {}; })"
+    (tbl) ->
+      with obj = mkobj!
+        for k,v in pairs(tbl)
+          obj[k] = v
+
+  class Diagram
+    new: (f) =>
+      @svg = SVG!
+      @arrows = SVG.G!
+      @width, @height = 0, 0
+      @y = 0
+
+      f @
+
+    txtattr = o {
+      fill: 'white',
+      'font-size': '14px',
+      'text-anchor': 'middle',
+    }
+    block: (color, label, h=1) =>
+      @svg\add with SVG.G!
+        with \rect GRID_W, h * GRID_H
+          \attr o fill: color
+        if label
+          with \plain label
+            \move GRID_W/2, 0
+            \attr txtattr
+
+        \move @width * GRID_W, (@y + h) * -GRID_H
+      @y += h
+      if @y > @height
+        @height = @y
+
+    arrattr = o {
+      fill: 'white',
+      'font-size': '18px',
+      'text-anchor': 'middle',
+    }
+    arrow: (char, x, y) =>
+      with @arrows\plain char
+        \attr arrattr
+        \move (x + 1) * GRID_W, (y - 0.5) * -GRID_H - 11
+
+    -- inout: (x=@width, y=@y) => @arrow '⇋', x, y      -- U+21CB
+    -- inn:   (x=@width, y=@y) => @arrow '↼', x, y+0.25 -- U+21BC
+    -- out:   (x=@width, y=@y) => @arrow '⇁', x, y-0.25 -- U+21C1
+    inout: (x=@width, y=@y) => @arrow '⇆', x, y      -- U+21C6
+    inn:   (x=@width, y=@y) => @arrow '←', x, y+0.25 -- U+2190
+    out:   (x=@width, y=@y) => @arrow '→', x, y-0.25 -- U+2192
+
+    mind: (label='mind', ...) => @block '#fac710', label, ...
+    phys: (label='phys', ...) => @block '#8fd13f', label, ...
+    digi: (label='digi', ...) => @block '#9510ac', label, ...
+
+    next: =>
+      @y = 0
+      @width += 1
+
+    finish: =>
+      return if @node
+      @svg\add @arrows
+
+      @width += 1
+      w, h = @width * GRID_W, @height * GRID_H
+
+      l = GRID_W / 6.5
+      @svg\add with @svg\line 0, -GRID_H, w, -GRID_H
+        \stroke o width: 2, color: '#ffffff', dasharray: "#{l}, #{l}"
+
+      @svg\size w, h
+      @svg\viewbox 0, -h, w, h
+      @node = @svg.node
+
+addlabel = (label, diagram) ->
+  with div style: { display: 'inline-block', margin: '20px', 'text-align': 'center' }
+    \append diagram
+    \append div label
+
+figures = do
+  style =
+    display: 'flex'
+    'align-items': 'flex-end'
+    'justify-content': 'space-evenly'
+  (...) -> div { :style, ... }
+
+sources = do
+  short = => "#{@id} #{@year}"
+  long = => @names, " (#{@year}): ", (i @title), ", #{@published}"
+  {
+    {
+      id: 'Milgram',
+      title: 'Augmented Reality: A class of displays on the reality-virtuality continuum',
+      published: 'in SPIE Vol. 2351',
+      names: 'P. Milgram, H. Takemura, A. Utsumi, F. Kishino',
+      year: 1994
+      :long, :short,
+    },
+    {
+      id: 'Marsh',
+      title: 'Nested Immersion: Describing and Classifying Augmented Virtual Reality',
+      published: 'IEEE Virtual Reality Conference 2015',
+      names: 'W. Marsh, F. Mérienne',
+      year: 2015
+      :long, :short,
+    },
+    {
+      id: 'Billinghurst',
+      title: 'The MagicBook: a transitional AR interface',
+      published: 'in Computer & Graphics 25',
+      names: 'M. Billinghurst, H. Kato, I. Poupyrev',
+      year: 2001,
+      :long, :short,
+    },
+    {
+      id: 'Matrix',
+       title: 'The Matrix',
+       year: 1999,
+       names: 'L. Wachowski, A. Wachowski',
+       long: => @names, " (#{@year}): ", (i @title), " (movie)"
+       short: => tostring @year
+    },
+    {
+      id: 'Naam',
+      title: 'Nexus',
+      published: 'Angry Robot (novel)',
+      names: 'R. Naam',
+      year: 2012,
+      :long, :short,
+    }
+  }
+
+ref = do
+  fmt = (id) ->
+
+    local src
+    for _src in *sources
+      if _src.id == id
+        src = _src
+        break
+
+    if src
+      a { src\short!, href: "##{src.id}" }
+    else
+      span id
+
+  ref = (...) ->
+    refs = { ... }
+    with span "(", fmt refs[1]
+      for i=2, #refs
+        \append ", "
+        \append fmt refs[i]
+      \append ")"
+
+references = ->
+  with ol!
+    for src in *sources
+      \append li { id: src.id, src\long! }
+
+sect = (label) ->
+  with section style: 'page-break-inside': 'avoid'
+    \append h2 label
+
+append with article style: { margin: 'auto', 'max-width': '750px' }
+  \append div 'Sol Bekic', style: 'text-align': 'right'
+
+  \append h1 {
+    style: { 'text-align': 'center', 'font-size': '2em' },
+    "Reality Stacks",
+    div "a Taxonomy for Multi-Reality Experiences", style: 'font-size': '0.6em'
+  }
+
+  \append with sect "Abstract"
+    \append p "With the development of mixed-reality experiences and the corresponding interface devices
+      multiple frameworks for classification of these experiences have been proposed. However these past
+      attempts have mostly been developed alongside and with the intent of capturing specific projects ",
+      (ref 'Marsh', 'Billinghurst'), " or are nevertheless very focused on existing methods and technologies ",
+      (ref 'Milgram'), ". The existing taxonomies also all assume physical reality as a fixpoint and constant and are
+      thereby not suited to describe many fictional mixed-reality environments and altered states of consciousness.
+      In this paper we describe a new model for describing such experiences and examplify it's use with currently
+      existing as well as idealized  technologies from popular culture."
+
+  \append with sect "Terminology"
+    \append p "We propose the following terms and definitions that will be used extensively for the remainder of the paper:"
+    for definition in *{
+      { "layer of reality": "a closed system consisting of a world model and a set of rules or dynamics operating on and
+        constraining said model." },
+      { "world model": "describes a world state containing objects, agents and/or concepts on an arbitrary abstraction level." },
+      '------',
+      { "reality stack": "structure consisting of all layers of reality encoding an agent's interaction with his environment
+        in their world model at a given moment, as well as all layers supporting these respectively." },
+      '------',
+      { "physical reality": "layer of reality defined by physical matter and the physical laws acting upon it.
+        While the emergent phenomena of micro- and macro physics as well as layers of social existence etc. may be seen
+        as separate layers, for the purpose of this paper we will group these together under the term of physical reality." },
+      { "mental reality": "layer of reality perceived and processed by the brain of a human agent." },
+      { "digital reality": "layer of reality created and simulated by a digital system, e.g. a virtual reality game." },
+      { "phys, mind, digi": "abbreviations for physical, mental and digital reality respectively." },
+    }
+      if 'string' == type definition
+        \append hr!
+        continue
+      \append with div style: { 'margin-left': '2rem' }
+        term = next definition
+        \append span term, style: {
+          display: 'inline-block',
+          'margin-left': '-2rem',
+          'font-weight': 'bold',
+          'min-width': '140px'
+        }
+        \append span definition[term]
+
+  \append with sect "Introduction"
+    \append p "We identify two different types of relationships between layers in multi-reality environments.
+      The first is layer nesting. Layer nesting describes how some layers are contained in other layers; i.e. they exist
+      within and can be represented fully by the parent layer's world model and the child layer's rules emerge natively from
+      the parent layer's dynamics. Layer nesting is visualized on the vertical axis in the following diagrams.
+      For each layer of reality on the bottom of the diagram the nested parent layers can be found by tracing a line upwards
+      to the top of the diagram. Following a materialistic point of view, physical reality therefore must completely encompass
+      the top of each diagram."
+
+    \append p "The second type of relationship describes the information flow between a subject and the layers of reality
+      the subject is immersed in. In a multi-reality experience the subject has access to multiple layers of reality and
+      their corresponding world models simultaneously.", br!,
+      "Depending on the specific experience, different types of and directions for information exchange
+      can exist between these layers and the subject's internal representation of the experience.
+      For the sake of this paper we distinguish only between ", (i "input"), " and ", (i "output"), " data flow (from the
+      perspective of the subject); categorized loosely as information the subject receives from the environment
+      (", (i "input"), ", e.g. visual stimuli) and actions the subject can take to influence the state of the world model
+      (", (i "output"), ", e.g. motor actions) respectively."
+
+    \append p "In the following diagrams, information flow is visualized horizontally, in the region below the dashed line
+      at the bottom of the diagram. The subject's internal mental model and layer of reality are placed on the bottom left
+      side of the diagram.
+      The layers of reality that the subject experiences directly and that mirror it's internal representations are placed
+      on the far right. There may be multiple layers of reality sharing this space, visualized as a vertical stack of
+      layers. Since the subject must necessarily have a complete internal model of the multi-reality experience around
+      him to feel immersed, the subject's mental layer of reality must span the full height of all the layers visible
+      on the right side of the diagram.", br!,
+      "Information flow itself is now visualized concretely using arrows that cross layer boundaries in the lower part of
+      the diagram as described above. Arrows pointing leftwards denote ", (i "input"), " flow, whilst arrows pointing
+      rightwards denote ", (i "output"), "-directed information flow. In some cases information doesn't flow directly
+      between the layers the subject is directly aware of and the subject's internal representation and instead
+      traverses ", (i "intermediate layers"), " first."
+
+    \append p "Before we take a look at some reality stacks corresponding to current VR and AR technology,
+      we can take a look at waking life as a baseline stack. To illustrate the format of the diagram we will compare it
+      to the stack corresponding to a dreaming state:"
+
+    \append with figures!
+      \append addlabel "Waking Life", Diagram =>
+        @mind!
+        @inout!
+        @phys!
+
+        @next!
+        @phys '', 2
+        @finish!
+
+      \append addlabel "Dreaming", Diagram =>
+        @mind!
+        @phys!
+        @finish!
+
+    \append p "In both cases, the top of the diagram is fully occupied by the physical layer of reality, colored in green.
+      This is due to the fact that, according to the materialistic theory of mind, human consciousness owes its existance
+      to the physical and chemical dynamics of neurons in our brains. Therefore our mental reality must be considered
+      fully embedded in the physical reality, and consequently it may only appear underneath it in the diagram."
+
+    \append p "During waking life, we concern ourselves mostly with the physical reality surrounding us.
+      For this reason the physical reality is placed in the lower right corner of the diagram as the layer holding the
+      external world model relevant to the subject. Information flows in both directions between the physical world model
+      and the subject's mental model, as denoted by the two white arrows: Information about the state of the world model
+      enter the subjects mind via the senses (top arrow, pointing leftwards), and choices the subject makes inside of and
+      based on his mental model can feed back into the physical layer through movements (lower arrow, pointing rightwards)."
+
+    \append p "In the dreaming state on the other hand, the subject is unaware of the physical layer of reality, though
+      the mind remains embedded inside it. When dreaming, subjects' mental models don't depend on external models, hence
+      the mental layer of reality must be the only layer along the bottom of the diagram."
+
+  \append with sect "Current Technologies"
+    \append p "Since recent technological advancements have enabled the development of VR and AR consumer devices,
+      AR and VR have been established as the potential next frontier of digital entertainment.", br!,
+      "As the names imply, the notion of reality is at the core of both technologies.
+      In the following section we will take a look at the respective stacks of both experience types:"
+
+    \append with figures!
+      \append addlabel "VR", Diagram =>
+        @mind!
+        @phys!
+        @inout nil, 1
+
+        @next!
+        @phys '', 2
+        @inout nil, 1
+
+        @next!
+        @digi!
+        @phys ''
+        @finish!
+
+
+      \append addlabel "AR", Diagram =>
+        @mind!
+        @inout nil, 1.25
+        @inn nil, 0.5
+        @phys!
+
+        @next!
+        @phys '', 2
+        @inn nil, .5
+
+        @next!
+        @digi nil, .5
+        @phys '', 1.5
+        @finish!
+
+    \append p "In both cases we find the physical layer of reality as an ", (i "intermediate layer"), " between the mental
+      and digital layers. Actions taken by the subject have to be acted out physically (corresponding to the
+      information traversing the barrier between mental and physical reality) before they can be again digitized using
+      the various tracking and input technologies (which in turn carry the information across the boundary of the physical
+      and digital spaces)."
+
+    \append p "The difference between AR and VR lies in the fact that in AR the subject experiences a mixture of the
+      digital and physical world models. This can be seen in the diagram, where we find that right of the diagram origin
+      and the mental model, the diagram splits and terminates in both layers: while information reaches the subject both
+      from the digital reality through the physical one, as well as directly from the physical reality, the subject only
+      directly manipulates state in the physical reality."
+
+    \append p "The data conversions necessary at layer boundaries incur at the least losses in quality and accuracy of
+      information for purely technical reasons. However ", (i "intermediate layers"), " come at a cost larger than just
+      an additional step of conversion:
+      For information to flow through a layer, it must be encodable within that layer’s world model.
+      This means that the 'weakest link' in a given reality stack determines the upper bound of information possible to
+      encode within said stack and thereby limits the overall expressivity of the stack.", br!,
+      "As a practical example we can consider creating an hypothetical VR application that allows users to traverse a
+      large virtual space by flying. While the human mind is perfectly capable of imagining to fly and control the motion
+      appropriately, it is extremely hard to devise and implement a satisfying setup and control scheme because the
+      physical body of the user needs to be taken into account and it, unlike the corresponding representations in the
+      mental and digital world models, cannot float around freely."
+
+  \append with sect "Future Developments"
+    \append p "In the previous section we found that the presence of the physical layer in the information path of
+      VR and AR stacks limits the experience as a whole. It follows that the removal of that indirection should be
+      an obvious goal for future developments:"
+
+    \append figures addlabel "holy grail of VR: 'The Matrix'", Diagram =>
+      @mind!
+      @inout!
+      @phys!
+
+      @next!
+      @digi!
+      @phys ''
+      @finish!
+
+    \append p "In the action movie 'The Matrix' ", (ref 'Matrix'), ", users of the titular VR environment interface with it
+      by plugging cables into implanted sockets that connect the simulation directly to their central nervous system.", br!,
+      "While these cables and implanted devices are physical devices, they don't constitute the presence of the 
+      physical layer of reality in the information path because while they do transmit information, the information
+      remains in either the encoding of the mental model (neural firing patterns) or the encoding of the digital model
+      (e.g. a numeric encoding of a player character's movement in digital space) and the conversion is made directly
+      between those two - the data never assumes the native encoding of the physical layer (e.g. as a physical motion)."
+
+    \append p "While we are currently far from being able to read arbitrary high-level information from the brain
+      or to synthesize sensual input in human perception by bypassing the sensory organs, brain-computer interfaces (BCI)
+      are a very active area of research with high hopes for comparable achievements in the near future."
+
+    \append p "Applying this same step of removing the physical layer of reality from AR, we end up with something similar
+      to the nano-particle drug in ", (i "Nexus"), " ", (ref 'Naam'), ".  However this does not grant the user a similar
+      amount of control over his experience as the holy grail of VR does, since the user and the physical part of the
+      environment remain bound by the physical layer of reality's laws.", br!,
+      "Instead the holy grail of AR is reached with the creation of a god machine that can manipulate the state of the
+      physical world according to the user's wishes. In this way the digital and physical realities become unified and
+      fully 'augmented'."
+
+    \append with figures!
+      \append addlabel "'Nexus'", Diagram =>
+        @mind!
+        @inout nil, 0.75
+        @inout nil, 1.25
+        @phys!
+
+        @next!
+        @digi nil, .5
+        @phys '', 1.5
+        @finish!
+
+      \append addlabel "holy grail of AR: 'Deus Machina'", Diagram =>
+        col = '#92807c'
+
+        @mind!
+        @inout!
+        @block col, ''
+
+        @next!
+        @block col, '', 2
+        @svg\plain('phys + digi')\attr(o fill: 'white', 'font-size': '14px')\move 6, -2 * GRID_H
+        @finish!
+
+    \append p "Despite the similarities of VR and AR, the two can be considered polar opposites, as becomes evident when
+      we compare their respective utopian implementations: they share the goal of allowing us to experience realities
+      different from the one we naturally inhabit, but while VR seeks to accomplish this by creating a new, nested reality
+      inside ours, thus giving us full control over it.
+      AR, on the other hand, is instead an attempt to retrofit our specific needs directly into the very reality we exist
+      in.", br!,
+      "This is in direct contrast with the popular notion of the 'reality-virtuality continuum' ", (ref 'Milgram'), ":
+      the reality-virtuality continuum places common reality and VR (virtuality) as the two extreme poles, while AR
+      is represented as an intermediate state between the two. Here however we propose to view instead AR and VR as the
+      respective poles and find instead reality at the centerpoint, where the two opposing influences 'cancel out'."
+
+  \append with sect "Conclusion and Further Work"
+    \append p "In this paper we have proposed a taxonomy and visualization style for multi-reality experiences, as well
+      as demonstrated it's flexibility by applying them as examples. Through the application of the proposed theory,
+      we have also gained a new and contrasting view on preceding work such as the reality-virtuality-continuum.
+      We have also found that the taxonomy can be used outside the research field of media studies and its use may extend
+      as far as philosophy of consciousness (see Appendix below)."
+
+    \append p "Further research could enhance the proposed theory with better and more concrete definitions.
+      In the future, the proposed taxonomy might be used to create a more extensive and complete classification
+      of reality stacks and to analyse the relationships between them."
+
+  \append with sect 'References'
+    \append references!
+
+  \append with sect "Appendix: Relation to Theories of Mind"
+    \append p "This paper starts from a deeply materialistic point of view that borders on microphysicalism.
+      However it should be noted that the diagram style introduced above lends itself also to display other
+      philosophical theories of mind. As an example, the following graphics show a typical VR stack as interpreted by
+      Materialism, Cartesian Dualism and Solipsism respectively:"
+
+    \append with figures!
+      \append addlabel "VR in Materialism", Diagram =>
+        @mind!
+        @inout nil, 1
+        @phys!
+
+        @next!
+        @phys '', 2
+        @inout nil, 1
+
+        @next!
+        @digi!
+        @phys ''
+
+        @finish!
+
+      \append addlabel "VR in Solipsism", Diagram =>
+        @mind nil, 2
+        @inout nil, 1
+
+        @next!
+        @digi!
+        @mind ''
+        @finish!
+
+      \append addlabel "VR in Cartesian Dualism", Diagram =>
+        @mind nil, 2
+        @inout nil, 1
+        @next!
+
+        @phys nil, 2
+        @inout nil, 1
+        @next!
+
+        @digi!
+        @phys ''
+        @finish!
+
+    \append p "However these philosophical theories of minds also constitute reality stacks by themselves and as such can
+      be compared directly:"
+
+    \append with figures!
+      \append addlabel "Materialism", Diagram =>
+        @mind!
+        @inout!
+        @phys!
+
+        @next!
+        @phys '', 2
+        @finish!
+
+      \append addlabel "Solipsism", Diagram =>
+        @mind!
+        @finish!
+
+      \append addlabel "Cartesian Dualism", Diagram =>
+        @mind!
+        @inout!
+        @next!
+
+        @phys!
+        @finish!
+
+_content