Virtual Reality in the Vernacular

In my last article I advocated going back to fundamentals. A fundamental argument on the rationale of modelling our Alpha World creations on the physical world might go as follows:

Architectural forms in the physical world are very much a direct result of the environment in which they are built. Each element that makes up a building has a purpose. Floors give us an even surface on which to walk and keep plant life from growing. Walls are used as barriers to maintain privacy, keep out the cold and wind and surrounding noise. The structure of a building serves to make it stable and able to defy the force of gravity. Windows are there to let in light and allow us a view of the outside world. Roofs are for keeping out the rain and so on...but in Alpha World?

Why is the building metaphor used in Alpha World? Walls may provide privacy (they don't at present but they might in future versions). There is no rain so why have roofs? There is no concept of a single light source, light is treated as an integral part of Alpha World space, so why have windows? Who needs a door when you can walk through walls or a floor when you can sink right through it?

Well yes you might reply...but we enjoy it anyway! And that's just it. However much one tries to be clever and throw away the mantle of reality in some intellectual pursuit of other forms of existence, you cannot get away from the fact that we are still human beings. We have all been raised experiencing the beauty of flowing landscapes and distant mountains. The delight of defying gravity each night on our pocket sprung mattresses. The joy of living in or even building our own dwellings to stake out our little share of planet earth.

The success of Alpha World is testimony to the fact that people are generally happier in environments which they find familiar. But is this all there is to it? If Alpha World slavishly modelled itself on the real world would it still be as compelling? Probably not. The missing ingredient would be what I call the Superman Effect.

The Superman Effect manifests itself in the extra powers given to us without the aid of machines. Although most of us in Alpha World design structures that look held together by gravity, the absence of gravity enables us to realise our long held and unfulfilled dreams of flying without using wings, or floating in mid air, or lifting (seemingly) heavy objects with ease. The ability to walk through walls, move objects from a distance (without telekinesis) and travel at warp speeds are powers that in the real world, we can only give to our fictional heroes.

I see this combination of real world familiarity and subtle superhuman powers as our first shaky steps towards a very different future. In time, the necessity for real world familiarity may well take back stage. As we become more caught up in virtual living we may feel more comfortable in shedding our dependence on the physical world's restrictions and icons.

Of course the possibility exists that we may not be able to make this final jump and disassociate ourselves from our evolutionary past. It may be left up to our avatars to create new worlds where we fear to tread. There may come a day when artificially intelligent avatars with their own personalities and agendas, decide to declare independence from their parochial owners and create environments that best suit their unrestricted nature.

Whatever the future holds we are still only human, our avatars do what we tell them and if they do have mutinous thoughts they don't let on. So even if we are at the bleeding edge of on-line virtual reality I think we can be excused for modelling our creations at present on the vernacular architecture we love and know so well.

Stuart Gold Bsc.(Hons) Dip.Arch RIBA

Sherwood Towne Architect

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Sherwood Towne
TheU Virtual University
The Contact Consortium

©Bauer Gold Associates - 1996


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