Bioapparatus
I just read a very interesting conference book called Bioapparatus about the future of virtual worlds. A lot of it, even according to the final responses, devolved into misunderstanding between the artists, feminists, art theorists, and techies who attended, but it provided some interesting insight into the current state of gaming. Looking at virtual reality as an interactive medium in its infancy led them to a lot of interesting conclusions about what to do with it, many of which could serve as models for developing current interactive experiences regardless of the game industry’s lack of a fancy interface. A lot of their musings have already come true, especially one about the use of sound in virtual reality which has numerous parallels to the way sound is used in games today. I found a lot of the feminist participants who were uncomfortable with technology silly; they seemed to be saying that since technology like this is controlled by men it is evil. Obviously we need more female participation in the games industry, but them making a binary male/female, rational/intuition, technology/nature distinction is really dumb. What I really took from the book was a fresh insight into the possibilities of the medium (because its limitations weren’t discussed very much) as well as cautionary urgings not to misuse it or allow it to be misused by corporations, military, and government.