Skype- Is it really conversation?

When I want to talk to my brother all the way in Seattle or stay connected to a friend who has moved away, or simply do homework with another friend from my house I can virtually call them and have a "face-to-face conversation" with them. This has been repeated by many other online services like Omegle and Facetime. It is an absolutely wonderful substitute for conversation, but I feel like interactions with another person in the flesh are invaluable and can never be dispensed with.

There is a future out there in which we remain in pods in our house all day, and every interaction we have is digital. As a off-and-on sci-fi dork I think that's utopian and I honestly can't wait for all the amazing inventions of the upcoming century. 

The only problem I have with it is the lack of human interaction, especially touch. There is something extremely comforting and real about the physical touch of another person, or even a pet. We all have to admit that hugs are pretty wonderful. We convey some of our most powerful emotions through non-verbal means. That is what I think is the most important reason why we never fall into a completely digital world.

I realize that some people believe that a more advanced virtual setting could recreate the sensations of touch and warmth. The problem is that I don't believe it's the actual touch itself that is so powerful. The power comes from knowing you are bonded in some way with another person. Shaking hands with a robot that feels exactly like a human hand is not the same as shaking a human hand.

The main reason I'm mentioning all of this is because there is an impending wave of virtualization into the near future. There was an article about a military virtual simulation that was real enough to give a trained soldier the early symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. That is intense! The feedback system is advancing in leaps and bounds from the primitive Siri to Google's new, and more advanced, conversational AI. The displays we are able to create are now becoming so in detail that the human eye can not distinguish it from real life anymore. With the shrinking of processors and the invention of bendable displays (super cool technology that you should check out), it might not be long before the virtual world is projected out in front of us from a chip in our retina.

I still urge for people to remember the power of human presence and contact. Give someone a hug or a pat on the the back today, it will make them feel better. Thanks for reading