The Noosphere and Cyberspace 2 by Beatrix Murrell What is cyberspace? And how might it be used? Originally coined by William Gibson in his 1984 book NEUROMANCER, cyberspace early on meant a "consensual hallucination." Today, following the advent of sophisticated simulation technology and virtual reality research, cyberspace can be defined more deeply. Today cyberspace means the possibility of immersing one's self into an electronically-generated artificial world and exploring it. What are the technologies that propel cyberspace? Howard Rheingold, a science writer specializing in computer advances, has suggested several: such as wrap-around, 3-D television, or computer displays outfitted with 3-D sound. Or there could be advanced simulation technologies with displays and computer graphics. Basically, all these developing technologies equate into what is called a virtual reality system. Today's fledgling virtual reality research already supports the sense of immersion by using steroscopic and gaze-tracking technologies. Also, regarding navigation, images can be created with optics and electronics. And gestural input can be implemented through gloves and head-mounted displays. Finally, software already can produce a model world--programming behavior that reacts to other programmed forces such as a user's movements. Thinking about how to currently use a virtual reality system has taken a very pragmatic turn, which indicates how successful the concept of virtual reality is becoming. For example Wall Street analysts plan to test a "stock market" version of virtual reality. A stock trader, wandering through a virtual world of colored squares representing stock and market changes, will be able to see instantly how stocks are performing in relation to others. Virtual reality systems, as the stock market example illustrates, will be able to present exciting new avenues to view and manage data. They will also ultimately allow business people to hold meetings from the same desk, miles apart, providing the ability to move electronic documents back and forth. Another obvious use of virtual reality will be in architecture, where architects will be able to artificially walk through blueprints or computer-generated designs of their buildings. Other practical services prompted by virtual reality systems will be in the military community, where simulated combat scenarios will be required. Virtual reality could also be helpful to astronauts, helping them to familiarize themselves with the terrain of alien planets by means of artificial exploration. But what about the more futuristic possibilities of virtual reality, of cyberspace? Where will such possibilities be heading in terms of promoting human abilities? Virtual reality is already being considered for its potential for intelligence amplification. Proponents believe that virtual reality systems could truly amplify the human mind. Such a system could assist the human being in the areas of strategy, evaluation, pattern recognition, planning, and fetching information in context. Virtual reality could augment visual thinking. As cognitive theorist Robert McKim put it, "visual thinking pervades all human activity from the abstract and theoretical to the down-to-earth and everyday." Football coaches prepare their team moves; astronomers consider cosmic events; surgeons think visually before carrying out an operation; mathematicians need to consider the relationships of space-time; and engineers visually design circuits, mechanisms, and structures. And physicists visualize electrons bouncing off atoms. A virtual reality system could help a user to enter into visual space and travel through it, and as computer guru Myron Krueger states, the user could probe "the problem space, learning about it, and intellectually and physically seeking a solution." Human beings are agents of action. They consist of bundles of traits and are predisposed to act in certain ways. Virtual reality, cyberspace, could provide a user more potential for action. Virtual reality could increase the possibilities of action by altering the plot of a given situation in a multitude of different ways. Patterns of prospective action could be altered to forsee outcomes. Thus, action could be more orchestrated. Multiple actions could be pursued concurrently. Overall, human action creates further possibilities or constraints. Brenda Laurel, a progressive thinker concerned with the computer as theater, has suggested that virtual reality will enable the human agent to become more knowledgable of the "contextual, structural and formal characteristics" of action. In turn, the human agent could better focus on how actions "can be arranged and causally linked." Working in virtual reality, in cyberspace, could also afford the user more prospects of surprise and eventual discovery. Such potential could enlarge the means for achieving radical shifts in probability. Related to action--as Laurel believes-- surprise and discovery could "create changes in the slope of action."   --Proceed with Noosphere & Cyberspace (3)-- copyright Beatrix Murrell 1998  Spiritech UK Godware Return to Spiritech UK Home