CHAPTER 36: CHAPTER 36 PROJECTION IS REALITY

Nowadays, the technology of artificial intelligence has become somewhat widespread, and it has especially developed rapidly in the area of video generation. Turn on your phone and search for video effects.

Among some effects, the choice of #what you look like twenty years later# was selected.

Shen Jingqi uploaded Li Yuanshin’s photo.

Soon, an image of a person around fifty years old appeared on the screen.

Shen Jingqi saved the video, planning to use this appearance for future searches for Li Yuanshin.

Checking the time, it was almost 3 PM.

There were ten minutes left until the scheduled meeting time.

Shen Jingqi walked towards the fourth-floor conference room.

The conference room was empty.

Shen Jingqi saw the neural connection sensor he wore in the morning, placed on his previous seat.

As he walked towards the seat, the synapse end of the neural connection sensor suddenly started flashing.

The flashing signals were jumping continuously in front of him.

Shen Jingqi knew this was a sign of a signal connection. As long as he got close to the neural connection sensor, it would automatically connect to his neural network.

Shen Jingqi opened the app from the test group and placed it on his phone’s home screen.

He pushed the switch on the side of the neural connection sensor back, and the signal stopped flashing.

Soon, Dean Zhang, Qin Si, Zhao Xin’an, and Zheng Lin all arrived one after another.

"Alright, everyone is here."

Dean Zhang’s face was a bit flushed, apparently having had a drink at noon.

"Dr. Shen was the first to test this morning. Let’s pay tribute to his great spirit of exploration!"

A few people clapped enthusiastically.

Shen Jingqi was a bit embarrassed:

"You are all seniors. As a newcomer, it’s something I should do to learn and explore more."

"Then let’s first have Dr. Shen share his experiences and insights."

Zhao Xin’an was looking forward to it.

"The most direct sensation when I entered the Sensory Paradise was touch. Then I felt heat and pain in my head. Throughout the process, I couldn’t see or hear. But I could touch and smell. Why is this?"

Shen Jingqi posed his question:

"Teacher Zhao, you mentioned earlier that the overall application of Sensory Paradise uses checkpoint design, meaning various sensory channels form a kind of checkpoint mode. Could it be related to this design!"

Zhao Xin’an originally had his arms crossed in front of his chest, but upon hearing Shen Jingqi’s question, he nodded and gave a thumbs up.

"Dr. Shen, you’re really smart. It’s like you taught yourself."

"To be honest, users have guided voices during their first experience. However, we hadn’t activated the guidance when you went in. So everything afterward depended on your own comprehension. Essentially, you discovered and adapted to the rules without guidance."

"The overall application of Sensory Paradise is based on neuron signals for upper-level operations. Only by exhibiting correct sensory responses can the signal command be matched, allowing you to pass the corresponding checkpoint."

Zhao Xin’an pressed a remote, bringing up a three-dimensional dynamic image.

"Currently, through holographic projection, you can see the trajectory map of the user’s brain activities. This is your brain area’s active profile. During this, a large number of your neurons were active, even working in abnormal states, causing the heat. Subsequently, neurons regenerate after damage, achieving neurogenesis."

"Since you were using solo mode, when experiencing each checkpoint, the other channels were correspondingly closed. However, if there were synesthetic functions, corresponding reactions could still occur."

"Moreover, since you didn’t access the guidance text, your progress wasn’t displayed in real-time on the screen. As for the technology, they couldn’t rashly pause to avoid any incidents. So, they were always waiting for developments on your side. Fortunately, nothing happened. Otherwise, Technology Zheng would have blamed himself for not emphasizing the guidance text earlier."

So that’s how it is.

"I understand now."

Shen Jingqi continued to ask, "Then the various scenarios encountered in the Sensory Paradise, are they real occurrences or what?"

"And do different people appear in the same scene?"

Zhao Xin’an nudged Zheng Lin, who pushed up his glasses and affirmed:

"That’s right, the maps in Sensory Paradise are simulations based on reality. However, this reality is essentially a kind of projection."

Zhao Xin’an continued the explanation:

"In short, the map scenes you encounter in the Sensory Paradise are projected based on your entire experience."

"This is the rule of experience."

"Projection is reality. Projection is memory, feeling, emotion, and it also includes your subconscious."

"Make sure to remember this,"

Zheng Lin emphasized.

"If it’s online mode, then people will appear in the same scene."

"Projections reflect one another."

Shen Jingqi pursued further:

"If in a scene in the Sensory Paradise, one finds some traces, could it indicate markings from a previous user?"

Zhao Xin’an’s eyebrows furrowed:

"Previous user markings? That shouldn’t be the case, unless some tampering was done with the data. Solo mode shouldn’t have this issue. In online mode, each scene is newly set, and marks from previous users should not appear."

"Remember, Sensory Paradise is an application that aims to achieve auxiliary and training effects in medicine, psychology, and everyday use, not a game."

"Although, I predict that once Sensory Paradise is fully launched, some people might treat it as a game since it indeed has competitive, expressive, and comparative modes."

"But those are additional. More importantly, the sensory experience that Sensory Paradise offers to users is absolutely unique."

Zhao Xin’an then expressed an incomparable state of intoxication and enjoyment, his body swaying slightly.

"Come on, activate your dopamine, let your neurotransmitters dance freely, let your neurons and glial cells flourish! All within Sensory Paradise."

So, everything is a projection, and projection is reality.

That means the ginkgo tree I touched in the Sensory Paradise, the information strip I saw, and the "Li" on the tree are all results of projection.

And all of this is also reality.

If that is the case, then such a place must exist in reality.

Shen Jingqi opened his phone and found the screenshot of the ginkgo tree sign from Shen University.

It can be confirmed that the words on the sign were printed.

Signs like this are common on trees around the Shen University Campus, all using uniform printed fonts, lacking personal characteristics. Therefore, there is no reference information from the font or handwriting alone.

So, where exactly is this place?

Why did it appear in my experience?

The "Li" on the ginkgo tree, who exactly carved it?

Why does it match the handwriting of "Mu Zi" on the cat tag?

Are they from the same person?

Shen Jingqi had so many questions.