Forum Discussion

sguynup's avatar
sguynup
Honored Guest
12 years ago

Theories and some History of VR (list of leading documents)

If anyone is interested (or is searching) for texts and theories on virtual spaces and designs - a list is here:

http://isovista.org/art-design/theory

Its grouped by academic domain (Game Design, Architecture, Computer Sci, Film, etc)
For the curious, the first technology of VR dates back to the 1500's
It was called the Camera Obscura

Below is a description:

"Now for a conclusion I will add that, then which nothing can be more pleasant for great men, and scholars, and ingenious persons to behold. That in a dark chamber by white sheets objected, one may see as clearly and perspicuously, as if they were before his eyes, huntings, banquets, armies of enemies, plays, and all things else that one desires. Let there be over against that chamber, where you desire to represent things, some spacious plain, where the sun can freely shine. Upon that you shall set trees in order, also woods, mountains, rivers, and animals that are really so, or made by art, of wood, or some other matter. You must frame little children in them, as we use to bring them in when comedies are acted. And you must counterfeit Stags, Boar, Rhinocerets, Elephants, Lions, and what other creatures you please. Then by degrees they must appear, as coming out of their dens, upon the plain. The hunter must come with his hunting pole, nets, arrows, and other necessaries, that may represent hunting. Let there be horns, Cornets, and trumpets sounded. Those that are in the chamber shall see trees, animals, hunters faces, and all the rest so plainly, that they cannot tell wether they be true or delusions."

Natural Magick, Chapter 17 "Of Strange Glasses" - Giambattista della Porta (1537-1615)

2 Replies

  • KarnageKane's avatar
    KarnageKane
    Explorer
    12 years ago
    Char Davies use of a chest plate to monitor breathing while in VR sounds interesting.

    Bartle had some interesting claims about first virtual world experiences by Newbies.

    From here I read Jesse Schell's predictions about how VR is likely to take off. The novelty market could be a problem.

    D'Orazio shows just how wrong many virtual world take up predictions have been.

    The thing that stood out to me about Manovich's article was the definition of realism (production of an acceptable semblance of reality). As well as the claim that computer graphics created visuality changes similar to the difference between medieval imagery and Renaissance. I'll have to check out Giotte's paintings as well for 3D forms created on 2D canvas.

    Hopefully will get around to reading the other articles when time permits.

    Cheers
  • sguynup's avatar
    sguynup
    Honored Guest
    12 years ago
    Thank you for making use of this material :)

    Novelty Market, I think that some of this related to early cinema - Nickelodeons and even earlier.
    Consider that early films were thought of as Total Cinema aka VR (see Bazin's Text in cinema)
    The idea that it was a story telling medium and could be edited - like a story was outside the boundaries of what people understood at the time. Jump Cuts, Close Ups, Crane Shots - which seem normal to us - was totally UNREAL to them.

    D.W. Griffith - the Director who pioneered film editing had this conversation in 1908:

    “How can you tell a story jumping about like that? The people won’t know what its’ about.”
    “Well,” said Mr. Griffith, “Doesn’t Dickens write that way?”
    “Yes, but that’s Dickens; that’s novel writing; that's different.”
    "Oh, not so much, these are picture stories; not so different."

    My take is that today's VR is much the same, its not just a narrative medium - but an interactive one as was. Which is a cornerstone of Game Theory. One can imagine a Griffith-like conversation today:

    “How can you understand a space that jumps about like that? The people won’t know what it’s about.”
    “Well,” said Virtual Griffith, “Doesn’t Shigeru Miyamoto design that way?”
    “Yes, but that’s Shigeru Miyamoto; that’s game design; that's different.”
    "Oh, not so much, these are still a mix of narrative and interaction; not so different.”

    Hopefully I'm hitting the question you were pondering, that we need to edit reality to get it to be an effective interface for us...

    thanks again for reading, love your screen name
    Steve Guynup
    Doctor of Communication and Design - and VR Oldtimer