From: brucec@phoebus.labs.tek.com (Bruce Cohen)
Subject: Re: Sex 'n' Drugs 'n' Rock 'n' Roll (was: Re: Imagination vs. VR (was
Date: 26 Aug 91 17:52:10 GMT
Organization: Computer Research Lab, Tektronix Inc.



In article <1991Aug26.070122.13930@milton.u.washington.edu> eliot@phoenix.
princeton.edu (Eliot Handelman) writes:
 
> VR is promising total sensory involvement by offering high-definition
> input to all the senses, so it stands to reason that reflective selfhood,
> when the definition becomes high enough, will all but disappear. 

While I think you've got some good points here in comparing media, I
don't entirely agree with this statement.  My disagreement stems, I
think, from my belief that there is more than one dimension of
comparison here between media; "hot" and "cool" (or whatever other terms
you use to qualify the axis of comparison) aren't a sufficient set of
adjectives.  One's ability to reflect on internal state or on abstract
intellectual questions in the face of sensory stimulus is not dependent
on the origin of the stimulus: whether it is "real" or "virtual", but on
the intensity of the stimulus and its ability to override concentration.
In your example, it doesn't matter whether the A train is "really" there
or is a figment of a high-fidelity computer display.  Conversely, it's
possible to ignore a high level of sensory stimulus after a period of
exposure to it, assuming it remains somewhat constant in its affect.

Consider a grassy hillside on a bright, warm spring day.  I think I can
attain a reflective inner state in such surroundings; in fact I've done
so many times.  Does it matter if the surroundings are "real" or
computer-generated?

Now, you could say that I'm talking about background rather than figure
here; that when something is directly presented to the viewer,
explicitly in order to engage the senses, that reflection will go out
the window.  I don't think this is necessarily true; if it were, how
could anyone think out the consequences of actions in the middle of the
action itself?  It's clear that it's harder to do so than when sitting
in a monastic cell; it's not clear that the difficulty increases in some
direct way with the fidelity of the sensory impressions of the moment.

--
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Speaker-to-managers, aka
Bruce Cohen, Computer Research Lab        email: brucec@crl.labs.tek.com
Tektronix Laboratories, Tektronix, Inc.                phone: (503)627-5241
M/S 50-662, P.O. Box 500, Beaverton, OR  97077