The American computer scientist who popularized the term "virtual reality" will give a free talk at the University of Victoria tonight.
Jaron Lanier will speak at 8: 15 p.m. at the Phillip T. Young Recital Hall in the School of Music building.
In 2010, Lanier was named one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people in the world. A pioneer in the field of virtual reality, he is the founder of VPL Research, the first company to sell virtual reality products.
Lanier was a visiting scientist at Silicon Graphics and scholar-at-large for Microsoft, where he now works as partner architect. He is also a noted musician and artist.
The New York Times described Lanier's book, You are Not a Gadget, A Manifesto, as "necessary reading for anyone interested in how the Internet and the software we use every day are reshaping culture and the marketplace."
Lanier's talk is titled Turing's Spiritual Legacy. The late Alan Turing was a pioneer in the development of computer science.
