From: "Michael G. Koopman" Subject: CULTURE: VR mass media (was: Twin Palms) Date: Thu, 3 Jun 1993 11:45:05 CDT VIRTU-L Ronald J. Logsdon writes: ... much deleted ... > Did this Mini series fall pray to the same old movie investor formula > - "Murder everyone and will will give you the money to do the film, > murder sells you know!" This was hypothetical, as if anything else besides sex and violence sells to mass media producers, right? > I will be soooo glad when imagination, optimism a true creativity > regain the media from the murder minded apes running the show now. I should probably quote from one of Lanier's speeches ... (but, since I haven't read any, oops) impressing all with the understanding that VR is a very different media. This is true even if the viewer is not a creator of the world, since the viewer is allowed to view the world from many perspectives and may also appear in the world. A VR media further differentiates when the viewer is also a creator of the world. What would "Gunsmoke" be like with you as the stranger visiting town. Star Trek's "Holodeck" has explored this theme *on network TV* several times. Star Trek's Holodeck is many giant steps from contemporary VR, of course. > The bottom line is with VR we can create a new world the feed the best > humanity has to offer - or - continue mindless murder media. Some form of mass media VR may develop and Twin Palms might be scary close to what it will be like, but hopefully not. If a holoTV of some type is mass producable and "networked" programming is broadcast several distinctions could be made. If it is a view only system then it does not qualify as VR, does it? A view only system would be likely to maintain the formula TV production paradigm for better bottom lines, which matters to a producer (/investor), of course. Small changes would be needed to address the improved presentation effect which should bring out "flatness" in characters more intensely. On the other hand an interactive VR mass media is a new media altogether. It seems likely that network producers would attempt to use the success of TV formulas in creating new VR worlds. Early television borrowed a great deal from vaudeville and popular theater. Early TV also learned quickly that the media would not accept the same exact formula used in vaudeville and popular theater, primarily since the media came to the home. Some form of network VR would probably consist of a set of characters and a theme/resolution in which the subscriber would be interacting. It seems unlikely that the exact TV formulas will work directly. The interactive "Cpt. Kirk" may greatly tire of the Security Officer's demise on every journey to a new planet. The relationship of the subscriber as a participant as opposed to strictly as an observer would probably change the level of violence and death in the makeup of a successful series. However, for New Yorkers this may not be true. :-) My hope is that Jaron Lanier's faith in the creative nature of John Q. is correct and that the VR participant will desire to define her own roles, rules and environment. If the direction of MU[D]/[CK] systems is a valid indicator then the development of a "network" VR is unlikely to ever happen. VR users will want systems which allow them to quickly and easily develop their own worlds and go out "traveling" to distant lands interacting, enjoying and learning in the company of other 'cyberspace' individuals. The best next thing is interbeing there. (Would deleting a cyberspacer's description files be murder or would the RL developer be considered cyberamnesiaic?) Just some thoughts I hope are of interest, Michael Koopman (mike) e-mail: koopman@ctc.com