Sunday, February 22, 2009

Overcoming gravity (and reality) - Part I in our Gravity series

Posted by Bettina Tizzy

I am becoming as fascinated by how technology affects us as I am by what we do with it. Lately, I've been wondering why we don't much celebrate our ability to fly in Virtual Worlds, even while it may be working its way into our subconscious.


My avatar in flight over Strawberry Holiday's "On Their Journeys" installation

Most of us take avatar flight for granted, but I suspect it has had an effect on my psyche as I don't recall having any dreams about flying in the past two years, which is also the length of time that has elapsed since I logged in to my first virtual world: Second Life®. I used to dream about flying... often.

Which led me to consider, "Is virtual flight (and virtual life, even) a substitute for lucid dreaming?" Norm Bearrentine explores how the brain constructs our reality, and how understanding that can affect the way we think of ourselves and who we are. "As people learn about lucid dreaming, an interesting fact about the brain will become known: it is a virtual reality generator," he says.

He goes on to explain, "The difference between these kinds of virtual reality and physical reality is that we can step away from the video game, movie, or book, and become aware of the technology that produced the experience. It is impossible, however, to step away from the brain, which is the technology producing our experience of “physical” reality. All our experience happens in the brain, and the only difference in the varieties of experience is the kind of technology that provides the brain with it’s material – books, TV, movies, video games, or none of the above."

Someone who would have undoubtedly explored virtual worlds were he alive today, Yves Klein created the photomontage Le Saut dans le Vide taken at Rue Gentil-Bernard, Fontenay-aux-Roses, in 1960, as "a symbol of the desire to overcome gravity and thus enter into the unlimited aspects of virtuality." It has been said that this was a manifestation of Klein's will to transcend limits. [Photo by Harry Shunk/Wikipedia]

And then there is this TED Talk featuring game designer David Perry, in which he shares a video created by a remarkable student, Michael Highland, who's words are etched indelibly on my mind: "... beyond the graphics, sound, game play and emotion, it is the power to break down reality that is so fascinating and addictive to me. I know that I am losing my grip. Part of me is just waiting to let go. I know though, that no matter how amazing video games may become, or how flat the real world may seem to us, that we must stay aware of what our games are teaching us and how they leave us feeling when we finally do unplug."


Will videogames become better than life?

Which leaves me wondering: Is it because we have overcome reality that we are not all that impressed with our ability to fly in the immersive environment of the virtual realm?

See also:
+ I can fly, but meh - Part II in our Gravity in Virtual Worlds series
+ Oh, those intrepid gravity challengers - Part III in our Gravity in Virtual Worlds series
+ Climbing walls, sky dancing (in HD!), and weightless sex/showers - Part IV in our Gravity in Virtual Worlds series

4 comments:

Solo Mornington said...

In my case, it's obvious that avatars need to fly because that's just part of the user interface. Sort of like camming around.

In fact, I find myself wishing I could cam around in life much more than I find myself wishing I could fly. Camming is a kind of omniscience, whereas flying is simply going up.

However, when it comes to lucid dreaming... Of course SL is a giant persistent lucid dream. One can go to it and then come back to it again and again.

I also recall using text-based VR systems called MUSH, which stands for Multi-User Shared Hallucination. So this isn't a new idea. I mean, really... Do you not have any back-isssues of Mondo 2000? :-)

Quoting Norm Bearrantine: "The difference between these kinds of virtual reality and physical reality is that we can step away from the video game, movie, or book, and become aware of the technology that produced the experience. It is impossible, however, to step away from the brain, which is the technology producing our experience of “physical” reality"

What is interesting about the human mind is that, while it has some trouble understanding how it constructs its own 'reality' as Bearrantine points out, it can however understand that such distinctions do exist. And this is, in my view, where VR like Second Life can do the most good: They teach us a certain kind of detachment from our physical reality, maybe a sort of low-level skepticism.

In this sense, at least, SL is psychedelic, even when you're sitting on a camping chair. You have the opportunity to learn the skill of being the master of your own narrative. And once you have that skill, you can begin to apply it to The Real.

Tooter Claxton said...

"I know that I am losing my grip"

Enjoy. This is what it's about.

Michael Highland said...

First off thanks for the kind words. I'm interested in what you said about our inability to "step away from the brain, which is the technology producing our experience of 'physical' reality." I feel like this separation between consciousness and the brain as technology is not only possible, it may be central to achieving a certain level of personal (and possibly spiritual) development. For me personally, the acceptance of 'reality' as simply a subjective experience opened my mind up to the possibility of virtual experience being no more or less valid than what is generally accepted as 'real'...

Bettina Tizzy said...

Thank you for your insightful comments, each of you, and welcome to the NPIRL blog, Michael. Are you also a SLer, by any chance? I hope all is well with you... you must know that you left us a little worried about you after that powerfully candid and articulate piece.

And yes, Solo, I am aware that I am having lucid dreams when my avatar stands at Chakryn, my sim in Second Life.

I also think that Norm Bearrantine is a source of profoundly thoughtful ideas, and I intend to keep visiting his blogs.

I keep turning this one point that you made over and over in my mind, Michael: "we must stay aware of what our games are teaching us and how they leave us feeling when we finally do unplug."

There's a whole other blogpost on that topic for me, but ever since I logged in to virtual worlds, I've had two computers side by side. The RL/work system is on my left side and my (mostly) VWs system has always sat on my right. I'd be interested to know what this has done to my left brain/right brain development and am considering switching the systems... but reluctant to! Is that totally weird of me, or what?