hitl@hardy.u.washington.edu (moderator of sci.virtual worlds) (02/09/90)
but it is no different in principle from the distinction between film, say, and the apparent realities expressed through film (i.e., between "filmic space," on the one hand, and "virtualities" communicated via film on the other). Theatrical Conception As a form of theater, CYBERSPACE can be regarded as a computer-based medium that enables groups of people to play the roles of characters in cybernetic simulations of three dimensional worlds; crucially, cyberspace gives the role players the ability to sense a virtual reality from the point of view of the characters they play. I use the term WORLD in the ordinary sense to mean a three dimensional euclidean space in which objects obey certain fundamental and predictable laws of behavior and organization (as in "laws of nature"). A VIRTUAL REALITY is a consensual reality that emerges from an interactive simulation such as SIMNET [17] or Maze Wars+ [10] (as contrasted with a consensual reality that emerges from the ordinary physical world). By CONSENSUAL REALITY I mean the world, or a simulation of a world, as viewed and comprehended by a society. A CHARACTER is a being with a virtual body in a virtual reality. The role of a character is played by an INTELLECT, either a human (called a PATRON or sometimes just a PLAYER) or an artificial intelligence program (called an AI). A virtual object that embodies an intellect is referred to as a PUPPET, to emphasize that it is directed by a role player. Since an intellect plays the role of a character, a character can be said to be embodied by a puppet (which is to say, a puppet embodies both an intellect and a character). A puppet that embodies a human intellect is referred to as a DROID (as in "android") and a puppet that embodies an AI is called a BOT (as in "robot"). Sometimes the controlling intellects themselves are loosely referred to as droids or bots. To say that a virtual reality is consensual does not mean that its players must agree with each other about anything except how they perceive and act upon the underlying simulation. A virtual reality is "consensual" in that its player This definition of cyberspace is intentionally broad. Were it not for the stipulation that cyberspace be computer-based, the definition would admit many common forms of theater, sports, and games. As it stands, the definition includes many computer-based simulation games and training devices. It does not, however, include most computer-aided design (CAD) systems for three dimensional modelling. While three dimensional computer graphics is fundamental to cyberspace technology, most 3D CAD systems do not give their users an embodiment in virtual space - nor even, in most cases, a first-person view of a space. Their users are provided with instruments like mice and graphics tablets that enable them to reach through the looking glass, but not to jump feet first into virtual spaces. There are some who consider head-mounted visual displays to be requisite equipment for the true experience of cyberspace, but head-mounts are just one means to an end (though an especially effective means). What matters is the extent to which players are able to suspend their disbelief in the illusion that they inhabit bodies apart from their physical bodies. The sole purpose of cyberspace technology is to trick the human senses and sensibilities, to help people buy into and sustain an illusion. Head-mounted visual displays are important because they flood the human sense of sight with illusory images, making it much easier for most people to suspend their disbelief. Nonetheless, head-mounted displays are merely one means among many, including out-the-window visual displays, three dimensional audio displays, motion platforms, force-feedback devices, credible simulation worlds, dramatic tension, high stakes, engaging stories, and social reinforcement. The upshot is that there is no surefir ART OF SPACEMAKING The goal of a spacemaker is basically the same as the goal of a playwright, a filmmaker, or any other creative artist. In THE SEVEN STAGES OF THEATRE, Richard Southern describes art as "... an address (in some form) by an individual to a number of people" [14]. He is careful to point out that the art is not in the address, but in the way of addressing. As he says, art is the process of saying something and meaning something else. What creative artists do depends critically on the relation of their medium to their audience. A playwright creates a set of instructions for enactment by skilled actors who perform before an audience. A filmmaker does basically the same thing (often with the help of a screenwriter, a kind of playwright), except that what is presented is not a performance but rather a recording of one. In either case, the audience observes a reality but never participates directly in it. Whereas the playwright and the filmmaker both try to communicate the idea of an experience, the spacemaker tries to communicate the experience itself. A spacemaker sets up a world for an audience to act directly within, and not just so the audience can imagine they are experiencing an interesting reality, but so they can experience it directly. The filmmaker addresses the mind. The spacemaker addresses the body, and thereby the mind. It is vital for the spacemaker to remember that a virtual reality is not just a computer-based simulation: it is a computer-based simulation played out by a group of people on a particular occasion. As I defined it earlier, a virtual reality is a special kind of consensual reality, one that is constructed from moment to moment by the spontaneous actions, and interactions, of the role players in a simulation. A virtual reality comes into existence when a group of people experience a simulation as if it were real - and that occasion, that one set of experiences, can happen only once. Thus the spacemaker can never hope to communicate a particular reality, but only to set up opportunities for certain kinds of realities to emerge. The filmmaker says "Look, I'll show you." The spacemaker says "Here, I'll help you discover." In part, the job of the spacemaker is to design and construct worlds for players to experience, but that is merely the technical side of it. The more important part lies, as Southern says, in saying something and meaning something else. The art, in other words, is not in what the spacemaker constructs, but in communicating an insight into what the spacemaker cannot construct (that is, some aspect of a deeper truth or higher reality). CYBERSPACE DECK In William Gibson's stories, cyberspace "cowboys" enter cyberspace by "jacking in" to an instrument called a "deck." The exact nature of a deck is never discussed, though it is clearly some sort of gateway through which people are transported to cyberspace. I use the term DECK in the same sense, to refer to a physical space containing an array of instruments which enable a player to act within, and feel a part of, a virtual space. Specifically, a cyberspace deck has seven components: 1. a CYBERSPACE ENGINE to generate a simulated world and mediate the player's interaction with it, 2. a CONTROL SPACE (a box of physical space) in which the player's movements are tracked, 3. SENSORS to monitor the player's actions and body functions, 4. EFFECTORS to produce certain physical effects and stimulate the player's senses, 5. PROPS to give the player solid analogs of virtual objects and vehicles, 6. a NETWORK INTERFACE to admit other players to the simulated world, and 7. an ENCLOSURE (or some sort of physical framework) to hold all the components. Many decks will have just one prop, like a stationary bicycle, a railing, or a chair, and some decks will have no props at all. CYBERSPACE PLAYHOUSE A CYBERSPACE PLAYHOUSE is a place where people go, for various reasons, to play roles in cybernetic simulations. Think of a playhouse as a hybrid theater, gymnasium, school, sports arena, and conference center. Its basic elements are modular cyberspace decks that are organized, and easily reorganized, according to the requirements of particular cyberspaces. Each playhouse has at least one STAGE, which is simply a physical area that encloses one or more cyberspace decks. Some playhouses will have many stages, with each one containing decks that have a similar form or function. Each deck is linked into a local area computer network (which may, in turn, be linked into a more global network). A cyberspace is said to be a MULTIPLAYER SPACE when it emerges from a simulation that is generated simultaneously by two or more decks. By the definition given above, a cyberspace must have at least one human player (since a cyberspace emerges from a cybernetic simulation, which embodies a person), bu If cyberspace decks can be made modular enough, and portable enough, it will be easy to equip a playhouse for practically any kind of cyberspace. In principle, a cyberspace playhouse could be used for everything from drama and sports to design, education, games, product promotion, planning, job training, and sensational parties. In practice, each playhouse will be limited by the types of decks it contains. If a cyberspace requires a certain type of deck, which a playhouse does not have, then the playhouse will not be able to "run" the cyberspace at that particular time. To put it the other way around, a playhouse can run a cyberspace if 1) the house has the cyberspace in its (software) library, 2) it has the types of decks the space requires, and 3) a deck is available for at least one participant. It is easy to imagine that some playhouses will specialize to the point that they rarely, if ever, run new spaces, and never replace their decks, while other playhouses will offer a steady stream Since each deck is capable of running a complete cybernetic simulation, a playhouse with 20 decks, say, can run 20 spaces simultaneously. Or, at the other extreme, if every player chooses to join the same space, the playhouse will run just that one space, and all 20 players will be in it. SPORTS AND FITNESS PLAYHOUSE In this section, I briefly consider the design of a SPORTING HOUSE, a kind of cyberspace playhouse dedicated to sports and fitness. An analysis of all the issues is well beyond the scope of this paper, but even a cursory look at a few issues raises some intriguing questions and possibilities. The critical thing to realize about the design of cyberspaces, for sports, is that sporting decks will generally have sophisticated props, like recumbent bicycles and inclined treadmills, and that sporting houses will make money by renting time on those decks. The purpose of a cyberspace for sports is not just to help people have fun and stay fit. It is also to help keep sporting houses in business, by keeping their decks full of players. If sporting houses are to be economically viable, then the spaces they run must 1) give patrons good reasons to rent time on decks, and 2) be organized so as to keep every deck constantly in use, but without making patrons wait inordinately long for decks to become available. A sporting house could be used for many purposes, including physical