A Perspective on the Technology, Medium, and Pre-Occupations of VR
I often find that a good way for me to maintain perspective on where I’m headed with my work and intellectual interests is to pull back and try to determine if there is an essence to all the specific things that I keep pursuing. I’ve always loved animation, special effects, virtual reality, computers, makeup, costume, drawing, sculpture, photography, etc. I’ve pursued these areas to varying degrees over the years. As things progressed I began to examine what it was that motivated my interests. One of these factors I found was a fascination with the power of illusion.
Illusion is a phenomenon that causes a very powerful response from the perceptions of living beings. I think this is no surprise when you consider how many different things in our lives are related to it. Simulations and representations are all around us; as Baudrillard so unintelligibly posited, simulacra are increasingly pervasive. When examining the ontological questions of what is reality, truth, consciousness, etc, the last 50 Po-Mo years have made us increasingly conscious of the epistemological questions of how we can trust our knowledge. Illusion is everywhere, from espionage, to subterfuge, magicians, theatre, cinema, games, realist painting, photography, drugs, androids, AI, HiFi, HiDef, Imax screens, VR screens, Television screens, screens on buildings, screens in clothing. Indeed, from monarch butterflies, to chameleons and camouflage, even our very survival is intimately linked to illusion. The idea that we can be fundamentally deceived, or that we can deceive others is scary, sexy, wonderful, and terrifying all at the same time.
Another “essence” that I’ve been interested in over the years is immersion. Obviously VR is one, but things such as meditation, hypnotism, prayer, mysticism, imagination, daydreaming, night dreaming, nightmares, theatres, viewmasters, hmd’s, etc. are all linked in a way as experiences where our mind is engaged and removed from distraction. Yoga, Zen Buddhism, Transcendental Meditation all seek control over the body and mind to allow a being to reach a mental state where distractions are minimized and the mind is able to gain powerful insight.
The traditional “holy grail” end goal of VR is the creation of a perfectly immersive illusion of reality. I think it’s safe to say that this is a theoretical goal considering the fact that we don’t nearly understand AI, or how to simulate the systems that make up our world. We’d need a fundamental understanding of how the world works on the smallest and largest levels to truly reach the grail. We’d need to understand the world as if we were the creator of it, for to perfectly simulate it, we’d have to fundamentally and perfectly re-create it.
We’re going to reach a point soon where the level of simulation is downright revolutionary and will transform the way we live in ways no sci-fi film will be able to predict. The goal is undoubtedly worth moving towards. However, as with many researchers developing technology, the question becomes what do you do with it right now? Do you push the development and possibly create new technology or a new medium. Or do you use it to create something amazing within the medium? I don’t think one is more correct to focus on. They’re symbiotic. However, VR is a unique medium where the development of the technology holds so much promise to many that they can become pre-occupied with pushing it at the sake of content creation and experimentation with what already exists.
The technology opens new doors for exploration and creation via the medium just as cameras, paint, pencils and paper did. Painting was for a long time, in general, pre-occupied with the accurate recording of rich people, and the depiction of religious subject matter. Experimenters, rebels, “avant-garde” users of mediums have always existed. However, in the last ~150 years the level of experimentation with media has exploded (as has technological invention). Abstract Expressionism, Dadaism, Pop-Art, Jazz, Hip Hop, Punk, Rock and Roll, all pushed hard against an established medium to take it to a new and exciting place.
There are amazing possibilities to be explored with VR and immersive media right now that don’t have anything to do necessarily with simulation of reality. Engineers and artists in the field know this. The important thing to recognize is that though we’re constantly looking down the road and around the corner with VR, the time is indeed now to really work within the boundaries and develop quality content within the medium as it stands. Early photographers and moviemakers didn’t make a few prints and films and then spend the majority of their time trying to create high-res color film. They experimented and created wonderful b&w art. Film Noir was made possible by experimentation with the unique qualities of the b&w medium. If they had been pre-occupied, it either may have been delayed in it’s emergence, or never have existed at all.
As more artists gain access to the technology of immersive media and VR, the experimentation will increase. Artists in general enjoy experimenting with a medium and creating with it. I believe everyone is creative, and I use the word ‘artist” very loosely here. However, engineers in the field of VR who are also artists aren’t as prevalent as one or the other. Therefore, the balance between artistic experimentation and technology invention has been lopsided. Amazing possibilities and creative experiences are ready to be worked on by artists the world over. However, this will only happen if, on a large scale, people who currently control the majority of the access and funding (academia, corporations and government) recognize and value that this expressive creative work needs to be done.
12:55 AM January 15, 2004