From Interface to Cyberspace: The Metaphysics of Virtual Reality

Author: U.S.
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2000-07-01
Features: Computers have dramatically changed life in the 20th century. Today, we accelerate communication that was previously carried out through broadcasting, newspapers, and television with the help of global computer networks. Ideas fly around the world at lightning speed. Hidden in the corner lies an already well-developed virtual reality. In virtual reality, we can immerse ourselves in sensory simulations not only of the real world but also of imagined worlds. As we begin to transition between the real world and the virtual world, Michael Heim asks how our perception of reality changes? In From Interface to Cyberspace, Heim explores this question and other philosophical issues of the information age. With sharp insight into both the bright and dark sides of computer technology, he examines the logical and historical origins of our computerized world and investigates the future direction of our computerized lives. Along the path to cyberspace and virtual reality, Heim discusses topics such as the textual effects of the linguistic dialects of reality and the new literature given by hypertext. This book is a fascinating and vivid work that opens an engaging window on developments that promise—or threaten—to become an integral part of daily life in the 21st century. The book was ranked as one of the best academic books of 1993 by Choice magazine.