"How important is it for us for the experience to be "real" and not technologically createdl?"
- Sound: When the phones were invented, we could hear persons far away from us. After the initial shock of how this could happen, and people looking into the ear-piece to see if the remote person was somehow in there :), people were OK with re-constructing the experience of actually being in front of the remote person and talking with them.
- Sight: When TV was invented, after the initial confusion, we were OK with the fact that the person on-screen was not real and that we could not touch them, etc.When video/magazine porn came by, folks were OK re-constructing the fact that the woman in the book or video was actually in front of them.
- Touch: People use devices to simulate touch - automatic massage chairs, dildos, body-pillows, etc.
- Taste: Using "technological advancements in the food industry", we can now buy soy-based chicken/beef strips. Or we use Sodium-Mono-Xanthium-Sorbate-Hydrate or something similarly named :-P to fool our taste buds into believing that it's sugar. We don't care if the food is nutritious and real, as long as it tastes good and fills our stomachs.
- I think that smell has not been full virtualized yet but perfumes are a good example of where "as long as the girl/guy smells good, you don't care if they are really hygienic or carrying large amounts of decaying matter on their bodies".
So it seems like as long as the goal is achieved, we seem to be OK with not experiencing the "real" world out there.