The
other day, Second Life celebrated its 10-year anniversary. But long
before that venerable virtual world came into existence, we were
dreaming up images of virtual reality and cyberspace.
Top image: Tron vs. Tron Legacy
It seems
like there are a few basic ways to represent "cyberspace" and virtual
reality. You can have basic reality, with the occasional glitches or
incongruities. You can create a surreal dreamscape that is clearly not
"reality" as we know it. You can use actual computer graphics, or try to
approximate computer graphics somehow using animation. Or you can just
go for something extremely cartoony.
As computer
animation and CG effects became more sophisticated, in the 1990s, the
scope for film-makers and designers to create "computerized" looking
worlds became greater — but by some point in the late 2000s, CG
animation and motion-capture start being convincing enough that we no
longer accept a virtual world that looks obviously computer-y or
excessively 8-bit. To some extent, the evolution of our imagery around
virtual worlds reflects our increased computing power and our greater
sophistication when it comes to imagining our interactions with
computers in general.
Just look at the difference between Tron and Tron Legacy.
For the rest of the story: http://io9.com/how-our-visions-of-virtual-reality-have-changed-in-the-582906269
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