Virtual
Reality
There
is no accepted definition or interpretation of what “virtual
reality” is. Here are several
attempts at taming the beast.
From "Cyberpunk" (Non-connecting URL as of 2010.)
"Virtual Reality (VR), also
known as artificial reality, artificial worlds, virtual worlds, virtualities,
is a fully-immersive, absorbing, interactive experience
of an alternate reality through the use of a computer
structure in which a person perceives a synthetic (i.e.,
simulated) environment by
means of special human-computer interface equipment and interacts with
simulated objects in that environment as
if they were real. Several
persons can see one
another and interact in a shared synthetic environment."
Cyberspace
VR can be considered as a visual
form of cyberspace.
There are many definitional approaches to the term, several of which,
according to the “Hacker’s
Jargon”
include:
“cyberspace /si:’br-spays‘/ /n.
/
1. Notional information-space loaded with visual cues and navigable with brain-computer
interfaces called cyberspace decks. There are serious efforts to construct
virtual reality interfaces using conventional devices such as glove sensors
and binocular TV headsets. Few hackers are prepared to deny outright the
possibility of a cyberspace someday evolving out of the network.
2. The metaphoric location of the mind of a person
in hack mode. Some hackers report experiencing strong eidetic imagery
when in hack mode. Independent
reports from multiple sources suggest that there are common features to
the experience.
In particular, the dominant colors of this subjective cyberspace are
often gray and silver, and the imagery often involves constellations
of marching
dots, elaborate shifting patterns of lines and angles, or moiré patterns.”
Others have called cyberspace, “The mutual connective fabric of the conceptual universe. An encounter halfway between here
and not-here (which)
can be visual, acoustic, or conceptual.” It is, “A community linked through electronic media, experimenting with new forms of social
organization.”
Still others claim that it is, “A
new universe, a parallel universe created
and sustained by the world’s computers and communication lines.
A world in which the global traffic of knowledge, secrets, measurements,
indicators, entertainments, and alter-human agency takes on form:
sights, sounds, presences
never seen on the surface of the earth blossoming in a vast electronic
night.” (Michael
Benedikt)
