The idea of virtual realities has a long and complex historical trajectory, spanning from Plato's concept of the cave and the simulacrum, to artistic styles such as Trompe L'oeil, and more recently developments in 3D film, television and gaming. However, this book will pay particular attention to the time between the 1980s to the 1990s when virtual reality and cyberspace were represented, particularly in fiction, as a wondrous technology that enabled transcendence from the limitations of physical embodiment. The purpose of this critical historical analysis of representations of virtual reality is to examine how they might deny, repress or overlook embodied experience. Specifically, the author will contend that embodiment is a fundamental aspect of immersion in virtual reality, rather than something which is to be transcended. In this way, the book aims to challenge distorted ideas about transcendence and productively contribute to debates about embodiment and technology.
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. Histories of Virtual Reality
Computation
Cybernetic Totalism
Discourses
Informational Society
Cyberculture
Cinematography
Interactivity and Computer Graphics
Video Games
2. Virtually Real and Really Virtual
Code/Language
Simulation and Hyper-Reality
Military Simulation
Big Data
Simulated Spaces
Theoretical Challenges
3. Technological Intimacy and Social Estrangement in Strange Days
Estrangement
Testimonial Verisimilitude
Thrilling Experiences
Lifeworld
4. Virtual Identities and Material Bodies
On-line Identities and Virtual Selves
Avatars
Surrogates
Social Networks
Catfish
Gamer
Mediated Lives
5. Virtual Reality, Transcendence and Flights from Embodiment in Source Code
Cartesian Dualism
Neuroscience
Cybernetics
Technological Transcendence
Brain Machine Interface
6. Technology, Embodiment and Being-In-The-World
Osmose
Avatar
The Cinematic Spectacle
Saving Pandora - Saving the World
7. Virtuality and Simulation in William Gibson's Zero History
Cyberspace and Cyberpunk
Signifying Systems
Branding
Visual Culture
Rootlessness and Liquidity
Simulacra
Vintage
Incompleteness
8. Conclusion
References
Filmography
Index
