Virtual Realism is an art form and a way of living with technology. To explain it, Michael Heim draws on a hypertext of topics, from answering machines to interactive art, from engineering to television programmes, from the meaning of UFOs to the Internet. The technology of virtual reality brought a new dimension to culture with its virtual offices and cyberspace friendships - but few agree on its merits. Opinions range from the Unabomber's Luddite activism to Wired's cyberpunk attitude to Bill Gate's commercial optimism. Virtual Realism guides readers through the debate and suggests ways of harmonizing computers with culture. Exploring a wide-range of virtual reality technologies, from a tour of a virtual art gallery to the heads-up-displays used by military pilots, Michael Heim shares the discoveries he has made over several years in the studios of VR designers. Always suggesting a harmony of technology with lifestyle, the result is an illuminating look at the meaning and value of human life in the age of cyberculture.
Virtual Realism
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"A pleasant, easily readable account of several applications of computer technology to create experiential art and one or two useful tools."--The Washington Post Book World
"Heim's views on technology are far removed from the routine rhetoric of cyberhype. With one foot in the book-crammed world of the humanist scholar and the other in the factories of the future, his ideas are always sensitive to both the euphoria and the anxiety which new technologies engender. Above all, his approach is pragmatic: accepting our technological fate and examining different ways to absorb its impact."--Mark Nixon, Twenty First Century
About the Author
Michael Heim is the author of the award winning The Metaphysics of Virtual Reality and the ground breaking Electric Language.
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First Sentence
Today we call many things "virtual." Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
Today we call many things "virtual." Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
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A meditative investigation of the impact of virtual reality
1 July 1998
By David Robertson
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
This is the latest in a series of books by Michael Heim on the human changes, both good and bad, wrought by the introduction of computers. Virtual Realism in particular seeks to find a balance between a retreat from technology and the wholesale embrace of it without regard for the consequences. He starts out defining the technology of virtual reality in such a way as to understand the strong reactions to it. He follows with a series of essays seeking to find the balance implied by the title. This is an accessible but always interesting book not requiring an extensive technical or philosophical background. His analysis is not exhaustive or linear, but that is not his intent. He brings up and ponders the big issues involved with human adoption of and adaptation to a powerful new technology.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
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A most interesting and thoughtful discussions of VR to date.
16 Jun 1998
By michele (mdickey@cgrg.ohio-state.edu)
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
Michael Heim's "Virtual Realism" is a critical yet pragmatic exploration of the present state and future evolution of virtual reality (VR) technology. Unlike much of the predominate rhetoric of VR theory, Heim's does not situate himself as either a VR idealist or alarmist, but instead offers a strategy for reconciling these polar positions by way of a critical, yet pragmatic analysis called "virtual realism". What is most is interesting about this book is the eclectic array of examples Heim's uses to support and illustrate his strategy. By drawing on examples as diverse as interactive art exhibits, the music of Glenn Gould and Jim Morrison, and extending to nuclear waste sites, he envisions a not only better ways to live with technology, but ways to make technology more humane. Heim's writing is both eloquent and accessible making "Virtual Realism" an insightful study for anyone interested in the impact of technology on our social and physical environment.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Highly recommended
12 Jun 1998
By Bruce Haldeman (bruce2@mindspring.com)
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
Michael Heim has written a very balanced look at Virtual Reality. In fact, he has even coined a term for it; Virtual Realism, to contrast with the over hyped ramblings of the "network idealists". I found myself taking time to savor this book. It is not a page turner in the proverbial sense. Rather the book causes one to calmly meditate on the current "Art of Virtual Reality". It also introduces novel (to me anyway) concepts such as two models of virtual world building: the tunnel and the spiral. One of the final chapters goes in depth about Nature and Cyberspace, something that I had never considered in the same thought. Despite being about a subject that is somewhat "out there" this book was very approachable. If you are at all remotely interested in man and computers, networks, the nature of reality or other philosophical topics central to the new millenium then buy this book. Read it carefully. Enjoy.
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