[Xmca-l] Re: Semioticians, parse this VR

[Annalisa Aguilar]

Hi all,

The discussion of VR is intriguing, and the closest my understanding to it would be digital gaming, though I realize that isn't exactly the same.
But! if gaming is of interest, which the thread seemed to turn, then I thought I'd suggest Alexander Galloway who is at NYU, but he seems to be going other places lately.
Here's a link to his site and books:
http://cultureandcommunication.org/galloway/books

In regards to this thread, I was thinking about his book "Gaming" but you all may also be interested in Protocol, and The Interface Effect. I've read Protocol, but haven't laid eyes on The Interface Effect, but that may be of particular interest because: Galloway "builds on the work of Marxist critical theorists such as Frederic Jameson, and new Media scholars such as Wendy Chun..." and "an interface, for [Galloway], becomes a technique for thought: an 'allegorical device' that makes the social world accessible in an age of information."
Here is a review of that book:
http://www.radicalphilosophy.com/reviews/individual-reviews/the-machine-is-an-ethic

It seems to fit with the idea of narrative in VR.

One of the ethical questions I have about VR, is whether it is just a matrix of control made to appear that it is offering freedom of exploration. Talk about a wall paper of appearances!
:)

Kind regards,

Annalisa