The virtual window

I think it depends on how much reality the screen flat provides. All concerns including the breath for sunlight or mental health risk are due to immature technologies from my point of view. You cannot distinguish what's virtual and what's real indeed given the preposition the question assumed.

I would prefer the virtual window apartment. It is more cost effective and I can experience things digitally. It helps me to get more information around the world than the real window.

I would prefer the apartment with digital screen. The screen allows me to see different parts of the world and I would definitely change the view everyday so I would not get bored. Another advantage of not having a window is that bugs and mosquitoes cannot enter my home, which is very intriguing for me.

The 'awesome' digital window offers a wide range of benefits albeit it misses on the most basic ones - air and sunlight. The freshness of the morning sunlight and evening air can never be felt the same by such a digital screen. Moreover, smell of the surrounding might also be difficult to perceive. I would choose the million dollars window, if I can afford it, anyday.

I would prefer a real window over a virtual window. A virtual window can look the same 24 hours a day, while a real window looks different depending on the time of day. A real window also allows me to see my neighbourhood as it changes: as buildings get old and are renovated or rebuilt.

I would prefer the real windows as it allows sunlight to come into your house, it makes the environment more natural. Virtual window, however, is basically a screen, emitting blue lights, it may hurt your eyes and affect your quality of sleep.

I prefer the real windows. Even though this window can display decent view, but it cost a lot of money and the window cant let you feel the environment. other than that, it may also contain health concern, it may bring bad effect to our eyes.

I would prefer the digital screen apartment. I would like to see different parts of the world and experience various of new things rather than having the same view every day. Even though the view might be fascinating to me at the beginning, i am sure eventually get bored. So, the view doesn't worth millions of dollar to me very soon. Also, It will be awesome if i can see my friends at any time without travelling around.

Actually, I would prefer the apartment mentioned above in light of the lower cost and its benefits. With the wall sized digital screen for windows, I can "travel" around the world - change the scenery outside - by just clicking a few buttons. That means I can see the instant scenery of any parts of the world with the real time web cam without actually travel to the actual place. It's quite fun that I could wake up with a entirely different view "outside" everyday morning and that is much better than seeing the same view that do not always change with the real window. Moreover, with the advanced technology, I can even create the scenery so that I could experience and see the views of all the seasons without any geographic and time limitation.

real window definitely. Even with thermal control, i think the window is vital as the ease of contacts with the outside world without leaving home. There is a better ventilation and instant check of weather is available. The direct contacts cannot be replaced by digital display.

I will prefer to have a real windows. Unquestionably virtual windows do provide us a chance to change the view that we want to see. However it is a common sense that the light projected to the digital screen will bring us a harmful effect to our body especially our eyes. Besides , using a projector for a long time will consume a lot of electricity. As a result , we need to afford the cost such as money and some bad effects for our earth.

To me, real window is much better than virtual window. To begin with, the main difference between these two types of window is whether its content is controllable. For real window, people cannot control the view outside. For example, we cannot control what objects and weather we can see outside the window when we can decide the theme or the exact content to be shown in the virtual one. The uncontrollable content can make us feel surprise while we may be bored when we always see the desired views in the virtual one. Apart from its content, the effect to health will be another major concern. Under no circumstances would the artificial light produced by virtual windows be better than the real sunlight comes through the real window. Computer vision syndrome may be found if we are exposed to artificial light in long term.

I prefer living in a room with real windows. Though the digital screen allows us to see the view outside, but to our human eyes, the colour, brightness etc. will still be quite different from what we can see outside a normal window. The virtual videos and photos will still not be able to replace what we see and the sentiments we can experience in real life. Also, with all kinds of functions provided by the digital screen, people can almost do anything in their home without the need to go out. This may further cut us off from the reality and we may become lost in the virtual world. We have to get in touch with the reality in order to feel ourselves as real human beings and not the slaves of the digital world. Looking outside the window kind of provides us a channel to get in touch in the real world given that we are all now already so immersed in our smartphones and in the digital world. Therefore, I think living in a room with real windows will be more preferable.

An apartment with all the walls as screens is quite fancy but personally i wouldn't want my house to seem like a virtual cage. A room without windows is basically breeding ground for germs and diseases. Sunlight and fresh air are the fundamental necessities of life. However, if there is an option in which i can convert one or two rooms into screen size walls, i'll prefer that so as to get a taste of both.

A digital screen can by no mean replace a real window.

For the health issue, digital screen may do more harm than good to both our physical and mental health. In the digital era, many eye diseases are attributed to prolonged exposure to computer and smartphone. Even if blue light filter is available, there is another health problem that cannot be solved. Nowadays, many people are obsessed with computer games. This situation will deteriorate with the advent of digital screen window, which may encourage people to play computer game day and night. This will adversely affect our body hormonal system as many important hormonal functions like cortisol and melatonin work by diurnal rhythm. When the natural sunlight and darkness is replaced by the non-stop flashing digital screen, the biological clock will be greatly disturbed. Besides physical health, some psychiatric patients like those with claustrophobia will experience mental stress when being put in an enclosed room. Although the digital screen can show the scenery of any places in the world, the lack of “real feeling of spaciousness” is still one of the main limitations.

Some may say digital screen can widen one’s horizons as it can virtually take you to any place in the world and therefore it can replace travelling. However, the main purpose of travelling is not only about seeing the scenery, it is about experiencing the cultures through interaction with the local people and tasting the local cuisine. You can search information about different countries using your laptop too but you can never have real-life experience when you just lock yourself up at home.

Real window is an important component of “the memory of home”. Remember how the super typhoon Mangkhut hit your home and how your kind neighbours helped you clean out the mess? Memory is built up upon truth and facts bit by bit. If you don’t even have a sense of belonging in your home, how can it be called “a home”?

My preference would be a real window. Even though a multi-functional wall-sized digital screen allows us to enjoy multiple panoramic views of the city (even the world) without stepping out of the door, they are something "artificial" and "unrealistic". It is simply because these so-called "views" are merely images virtually projected onto the screen. They are not real and concrete after all. On the other hand, an actual window offers things that a digital screen cannot offer - "realism". Opening the window, you can feel the wind, feel the temperature and listen to the sound of nature. In other words, a real window can stimulate all our senses comprehensively while a digital screen is plainly visual excitement. It has its limitations and cannot entirely duplicate the reality.

I would still prefer a real window. It is because that the virtual one just does not feels "right". By that i mean it is not natural and real enough for me to think that "Oh I am really not in HK for the moment". For instance, it is not only visual images that a window deliver, but also tons of other information, like heat from sunlight, ability to interact with the outside world etc. I can grow a plant near a real window, and I can feel the freezing temperature outside by touching the window if it is snowing outside. These cannot be replicated by a virtual one.

I prefer a flat with real windows. Humans are also animals, so we are inclined to nature like other species. Real windows offer a connection between houses and nature outside. We can feel into the genuine nature by windows. We can enjoy the sunlight, feel the fresh breeze, and know day and night. These are essential and cannot be replicated by technology. For example, fresh air is good for our health and good weather makes us feel positive. On the contrary, apartments without windows block the connection with nature. The digital screen harms our health as well. Light from the screen harms our eyes and affects our biological clock. Therefore, I like real windows even though the price is much higher.

I would prefer the digital screen apartment because for me, the convenience it brings costs so much more than a real window. It can helps me explore the world, with that big screen, I can feel like traveling to other places, also, I can meet my friends and family whenever I want. And of course, the biggest reason, the digital screen apartment is more affordable.

I prefer a real window since I want to connect with the nature and take a good breath from the outside everyday.