Lost in Cyberspace A Cultural Geography of Cyberspace.docx
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Lost in Cyberspace A Cultural Geography of Cyberspace.docx
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LostinCyberspaceACulturalGeographyofCyberspace
bySteveMizrach
LostinCyberspace:
ACulturalGeographyofCyberspace
Introduction
Whenexaminingmosthumanlandscapes,culturalgeographersinevitablyobserveamixtureofthe"natural,"orgivenelements,andthosethatarepurely"cultural,"orartificial.Inthepast,theytendedtodefinethe"builtenvironment"ofbuildings,dwellings,andstructuresas"artificial,"andthe"givenenvironment"offeaturessuchasrivers,hills,andforestsas"natural."Today,ofcourse,weknowthathumankindhasneverleft"wilderness"or"nature"untouched,andbeginningintheNeolithicera,westartedredirectingthecourseofrivers,flatteninghills,andreplacing"native"plantspecieswith"exotic"ones.Thus,culturalgeographersarebeginningtoseetheentirelandscapeasaculturalproduct-thatthehumanimpactonitisnotalwaysintermsofobviousartificialimpositions.(HirschandO'Hanlon1995.)
Imentionthisbecausetodayhumansarebusyerectinganewkindoflandscapewhichistotallyartificial:
whatmany,followingsciencefictionwriterWilliamGibson,havecalledcyberspace.(Gibson1984.)Thoughitcanbeusedtosimulateandmodel'nature,'italsocanexhibitpropertiesneverfoundinthisoranyotherworld.Thisnewkindofspacethatpeoplearecomingtoinhabitiscuriousinmanyways.Foronething,itisa"no-space"becauseitisnowhere:
a"consensualhallucination"inwhichpeopleinteractwithwidelydistributeddatathroughtextualandvisualrepresentations.Thelawsofphysicsdonotapplyincyberspace,andthusneitherdostandardlimitationsonhumanmodesoflocomotion,self-representation,orcapabilities.Cyberspaceisaculturallandscapewhereriverscanflowuphillandforestscanbemadeofcrystaltrees-orthingsinfinitelyfarmorebizarre.
Sincethesenewvirtualworldswearecreatingareculturalproducts,theyarelogicalobjectsofstudyforculturalgeography.Whileitmightseemastretchtoapplythetechniquesofeventhenewestandmostavant-gardeformsofculturalgeographytosuchastrangekindofhumanspace,Isuggestit'snotunusual,becauseculturalgeographyhas,asI'vebeensuggesting,cometotherealizationthatithadstudiedartificialworldsallalong.Theartificialworldsofcyberspacearemadeoutofdifferentstructures(digitaldata)thanotherculturallandscapes,butthosestructuresemergeoutofpatternsconstrainedbythetechnologyavailabletodesigners(whichisitselfaculturalproduct)andtheperceptualchoicesandpreferencesofboththeusersandcreatorsofthosestructures-whichalsoemergeoutofculture.(Benedikt1991.)
Wecanaskthesamequestionsofcyberspacethatweaskofotherhumanspaces.Howiscyberspacebeingused,andforwhatkindsof'virtual'activitiesareits'virtual'worldsbeingdesignedtofacilitate?
Whatpatternsofsocialrelationsplayoutinthekindsofvirtualspacesthatexistincyberspace?
Areweerectingvirtualagorasorsimplyelectronicdisneylands?
Howdoespowershapethenatureandexperiencewehaveofcyberspace?
Whatvaluesandbeliefsystemsareembodiedinthewaysinwhichthesevirtualworldsareerected?
Howdopeopleorientthemselvesandnavigatetheirwaythroughcyberspaceinawaythatisculturallymeaningful?
Doescyberspacesimplyreflecttheethnocentrismandculturalbiasesofthepeople(mostlyWesterncomputerprogrammers,butalsosomeJapanese)primarilyinvolvedinitsdesign?
(Bruckman1996.)
Allofthesequestionsareonesinwhichsomeoftheideasinboththenewandoldculturalgeographycanbeapplied.Cyberspaceismadeupfundamentallyofnumbers(binarybitsandbytes)andisnotonlyquantifiable,butinasensealmostmadeofquantity.Yet,throughvirtualreality,simulation,andvisualization,peopleexperienceitqualitatively,evenimmersively,justlike"reality."(Mitchell1995.)Culturalanthropologistsofspace,andculturalgeographers,needtovisitthisnew"field"ofhumanlife-whichisbecomingthespaceofmoreandmorekeyhumanactivities,rangingfromcommercetoweddingstoourownresearch.Weneedtostartunderstandingitnow,lestthesprawloftheinformationsuperhighwayharmmanymorepeoplethantheunanticipatedsuburbansprawl(atleastbymostgeographers)createdfromthe50sautomobilehighways.
IsCyberspaceAnyplace?
Thoughcyberspacecanbeunderstoodasamentalspaceofattentionwherepeoplearewhentheyareengagedinelectroniccommunication(thusevenapersonreadingemailortalkingonthetelephoneis'incyberspace'),increasinglyithasbecomesynonymouswithvirtualrealityandtheimmersiveexperienceofcomputer-generatedworlds(whichwasthesenseinwhichGibsonoriginallyusedtheword.)Sincethesevirtualworldsarestillintheprocessofbeingdesignedandimplemented,theyareofavarietyofkinds."Standard"VRtechnologyinvolvestheuseofaheadmountedstereoscopicdisplaywhichplacesthecomputer-generatedworldinthefullfieldofvisionoftheperson.However,anothertypeofvirtualworldcouldbethemorewidespreadkindwherethepersonviewsarendered3D-modelleduniversethrougha2-dimensionalscreen.Sincethisisusuallyviewedfromafirst-personperspectivethroughafairlylarge'window,'italsocanseemimmersive.(Laurel1991.)
ThistypeofcyberspaceisbeingimplementedthroughtheuseofVRML(virtualrealitymodellinglanguage)codeontheWorldWideWeb,makingitavailabletoInternetusersworldwidewithoutmuchhardware(otherthanacompatiblebrowser.)Allsortsofvirtualworldsrightnowsufferfromthelimitationoflookingfarfromrealisticor'lifelike.'Theheadmounted-visortypeofVRtypicallyinvolvesrealisticallyrenderedcomputer-generatedobjects,whose"refresh"rate(therateatwhichthetexturepolygonsareredrawn)usuallyfailstokeepupwiththemovementoftheperson'shead.Theydon'tmatchhischangeinpointofviewquicklyenough,whichleadstosomefeelingofvertigo.(Weibel1995.)Incontrast,thestatic3Dsimulationswhichpeople"move"throughontheWeb,howeverrealisticallyrendered,stillappear2-dimensionalbecausetheydonotengagetheperson'sdepthperception.Thus,ineithercase,theviewerhasnosenseofbeinganyplace"real,"e.g.inthenon-computer-generatedworld.
Butmostdesignersofvirtualworldshaveseensimulatingrealityasahindrance.Itpreventsthemostinterestingfeaturesofvirtualworldsfrombeingimplemented.Oneisthatthepersonneednotexperiencetheperspectiveoftheworldfromtheirstandardpointofview.Theycouldseeitfromabird'seyepointofview,oriftheyexperienceitthrough'avatar'technology,asabirdmovingthroughthescene.Virtualworldsdon'tusuallydisplaythelawsofphysicsinaction-wallsrarelyhavesolidity,gravityisoptional,theflowoftimeisunnecessary.(HaywardandWollen1995.)Withintheparametersofthecomputer-generatedreality,thepersoncanmovethroughthevirtualworldthroughalmostanysortofnavigation.There'snoneedforthemtowalk;infactsomevirtualworldsallowthepersontomoveinanydirectioninwhichtheycanpoint.Reinforcingthisunrealityisthefactthatmostoftheseworldsonlyengageonlythesensesofhearingandsight;rarelyistouchinvoked.
Cyberspaceisnotanywhereinourphysicalreality.Italsodoesnotreallyevenexist"within"thecomputerordatanetwork.Thetruthis,itisanillusion,aconsensualhallucination,createdbyinterfacetechnologywhich"translates"digitaldataintoaworldthatcanbeexperiencedbythehumansensorium.Itis,assomepeoplehavesuggested,ano-place;itexistssolelywithin"headspace."(Moser1996.)However,itisnotpurelysollipsistic.Peoplecansharethissamehallucination,inawaythatisfullyinteractiveandmutual.Throughconnectiontothesamevirtualenvironmentthroughthesameinterface,peoplecanhaveallkindsofinteractions,limitedonlybytheirimaginations.Needlesstosay,thepublicimaginationhasbeencapturedbythepossibilityof"cybersex,"andundoubtedlythedevelopmentoftechnologytomakethis"interface"achievablewillpushthedevelopmentofothersystems.
Therecanbe(andperhapsmustbe)ageographyofcyberspace,forthesimplefactthatit(liketherealworld)isdiscontinuous.Peoplecannotexperienceavirtualworldinitsentiretyallatonce.However,itmaynotbemeaningfulto"map"virtualworldsintermsofCartesiancoordinatesorlatitudeandlongitude.Still,virtualworldscancontainamultitudeofplaces,eachofwhichareperceivedandexperienceddifferently,andthustheremustbewaysinwhichwecan'map'cyberspace,howeverarbitrarily.Todotheculturalgeographyofcyberspace,wemustacceptthefactthatitisnotaspacethatcanbemeasuredbysimplelinearunits.Movementfromplacetoplaceincyberspacecanonlybedescribedintermsofdifferenceofexperience-butweshouldnotbesurprisedthatthosekindsofexperiencecanincludefeelingsoftheuniqueness,importance,andmeaningfulnessofplaces.(Holtzmann1994.)
ShapingCyberspace:
DesignandImplementation
Creatorsofvirtualworldsmakeanumberofchoicesinhowthedesigntheircomputer-generatedrealities.Themostimportantonemightbethesortofworldtheyare.Immersiveworldsfillthefieldofvisionoftheperson,whichisusuallyaccomplishedthroughastereoscopicheadmount.3Dworldsaretypicallyexperiencedthroughawindowonascreen,butonalargeenoughmonitor,theycanfillalargeamountofaperson'sfieldofvision.(Hamit1993.)Ifstaircases,walls,etc.arerenderedinalifelikeenoughway,thecompellingnatureof'screenworlds'canstillmakeapersonfeelasiftheyarefully'inside'thatworld.Peo
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