VIRTUAL SPACES
INTRODUCTION
My first idea for this article was to write about the place which I have in my mind. It is minimalistical, ascetical and aesthetical. My vision of perfection reflects minimalism.
Therefore, I was willing to research its concepts, rules of creation, and philosophy. By giving quotations of artists’, architects’ and philosophers’ I expected to convey their
and my point of view about perfection. Though, the theme of perfection or minimalism is too broad. Narrowing it down, I came up with an idea of writing about the works of
architect Tadao Ando, due to my admiration of his work. Further on, I figured out that my knowledge and impression of his design is based on media representation, because I
have never seen any of Ando’s works in reality. It made me contemplate the reliability and authenticity of material represented on the internet or published, because its content
might be commercialized and refined. Consequently, I can not be objective when writing about Tadao Ando’s works. Also, I was considering writing about the visual representation of the spaces in the press or in the internet, created by Tadao Ando. As followed, it emerged that internet contains not only photos (the reflection of a realworld) but it also has its own “virtual reality” with “virtual spaces”. I got an even bigger interest in it when I read about the Guggenheim Virtual Museum which is a
morphing structure that is in a constant flux. Hereafter, I formulated the subject of my research as:” Virtual spaces”. My purpose in writing this article is to get an understanding of this present and global phenomenon – known as the virtual world. I will approach virtuality as human’s pursuance of perfection or its desire to create a replacement of the real world. Additionally, I will treat the virtual world as a shelter
from reality. As we know, the human mind is sometimes inclined to disassociate from the real world if it feels any individual or social disappointment. Or generally, humans
are creators and are distinguished for their ability to reflect on the world and also simulate, interpret, and copy it. Maybe therefore, humanity created a broad variety of
divergent kinds of images which expresses controversial and distinctive outlooks, for example; computer games or such places as Disney land, Las Vegas, McDonald’s. We
face virtual appearances each day, without paying attention to it. For example: 3D computer graphics. It means that “virtuality” comes into our lives inevitably creating
our actuality. Let us assume that the process of a virtual world’s creation is natural, spontaneous and progressive. However, how far from reality is the world represented in
a computer created reality? Is everything just simulation? Can we reach a desirable perfection with this new adequate reality building tool? I am willing to assort and purify the view of the computer simulated spaces. Thus, I will analyze relations
between artificial spaces and real spaces. Do virtuality refer to an improvement of a deficient world; a panacea for all of our unsatisfaction and imperfection?
VIRTUAL
Colloquially, the virtual has a similar meaning to something that is almost something else. The term recently has been defined philosophically as, that which is not real, but may display the full qualities of the real. 1 Most prominent of these in contemporary philosophy has been Gilles Deleuze (French philosopher), who uses the term virtual to refer to:” something that every object carries with it, which is neither its reality, nor merely what is, or could have been, but rather what it is imagined to be”. “Virtual” is therefore taken to mean a potential state that could become an actual. “Virtual” is not
opposed to “real” but opposed to “actual”, whereas “real” is opposed to “possible”.1 This definition allows to understand that real effects may be issued from a virtual object, so that our perception of it and our whole relation to it, are fully real, even if it is not. Similarly, the virtual world is a type of habitation founded upon web technology.
In the virtual world you can create not only the virtual societies and communicate, also you get the space where you create another world. Recently this conception of the
virtual has been challenged and another core meaning has been elicited. It is based both upon science (virtual image) and technology (virtual world). 2
SPACE
Analyzing virtual space, I should also perceive the basic meaning of space. What is space in philosophy? Space has a range of definitions. For example, one view of space
is that it is part of fundamental structure of the universe, a set of dimensions in which objects are separated and located, have size and shape, and though which they can
move. A contrasting view is part of a fundamental abstract mathematical conceptual framework within which we compare and quantify the distance between objects, their
sizes, their shapes, and their speeds. In this view, space does not refer to any kind of entity that is a “container” that object “move through”. In comparison with a real space
a virtual space likewise fulfils the visual needs to establish the realistic sight.
Additionally, sound also can be added to increase real space feeling. Nevertheless, virtual space is lacking of human senses and smell. Therefore, describing this specific space is complicated. Though, generally space is described as having three dimensions.
It means that three numbers are needed to specify the size of any object and its location. Three-dimensional space - is the physical universe we live in. The three dimensions are
commonly called length, width, and breadth. Pictures are commonly two dimensional, they lack depth. I consider that, virtually two-dimensional view allows us to perceive
full scenery. For example, watching two dimensional animations can easily involve you in and make you forget the real world for some time. What I intend by saying it?
Virtual imagery time by time embraces our consciousness and makes us found ourselves in different environments. Some might say that it is the magic of the art or cinematography. Though, is not it the drowning into other world - virtual world? The statement: “Virtual world could newer replace reality”, was very likely improbable some years ago, but how is it now? Supposedly we can confirm Jean Baudrillard’s (French cultural theorist, philosopher) assertion: “The real no longer exists”.
An issue of philosophical debate is whether space is countable and measurable and how it should be done? In Immanuel Kant’s (German philosopher) “Critique of Pure Reason”, philosopher describes space as an a priori intuition that allows us to comprehend sensual experience, what he termed – “the thing in itself”. In Kant’s view, neither space nor time, are conceived of as substances, but rather both are elements of a
systematic framework we use to structure our experience. 3 Consequently we can assume that his perception of space is equally and mainly based on experientiality, whereas virtuality either offers huge diversity of emotional senses and experiences.
Accordingly, we can consider virtual as having the main quality of a real space. Arthur Schopenhauer (German philosopher), in the preface to his “On the Will in Nature”, stated that: “space is the condition of the possibility of juxtaposition.” 4. This is in
accordance with Kant’s understanding of space as a form in the mind of an observing subject.
Similar philosophical questions concerning space include: is space absolute or purely relational? Does space have one, correct geometry, or is the geometry of space just a convention? Historical positions in these debates have been taken by Isaac Newton (English scientist). He stated that space is absolute. Meanwhile Gottfried Leibniz (German polymath) declared space as being relational. Not going deeper into this, independently of how interesting it might be, let us go back to the concept of virtual. Could we maintain that everything what is imaginable could be named virtual?
For example the concept of paradise. We are “rebuilding” lost paradise through the history, through all centuries by improving our daily life and surroundings, by embodying better (or different) world visions in the fine arts, theater and cinema.
Despite the moral issues the main idea of heaven is the comfort, happiness and welfare.
Partially, religion and the world represented in it, is also virtual – ideal and desirable.
UNREAL
Screen shot of the computer game “Second Life”.
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Going further, I would like to raise the main issue. Is computer simulated world more beautiful and attractive? If so, what do bring people there despite the fact that it is inquiring, progressive and relaxing?
I might guess that some of computer game users like the fact and opportunity to be and feel like creator of the world.
For instance, let us take a closer look at the computer games.
A Virtual World, Second Life, Utopian Universe, etc. is a computer-based simulated environment intended for its users to inhabit and interact via avatars. This inhabitation usually is represented in the form of two or three-dimensional graphical
representations of humanoids.
The world being computer-simulated typically appears similar to the real world, with real world rules such as gravity, topography, locomotion, real-time actions, and communication. Communication has, until recently, been in the form of text, but now real-time voice communication is available. This type of virtual world is now most
common in massively multiplayer online games.
For example, the game called “Second Life”. Dedicated builders have created rich, complicated environments. Some of these, have grown to enormous size. A collaborative building involves thousands of builders, spans some 150 square kilometers of virtual territory. It could also include the entire universe. Traveling is endless as SL has hundreds of worlds to look at. On top of that, the few public worlds are enormous and have tens of thousands of buildings. Second Life game has two ways
of entering its universe: as a free tourist or as a paid citizen. Additionally, SL allows citizens to purchase their own worlds. This is a virtual world where users can enter as a
character and interact with the world. The most basic method of moving around is by foot which include running and jumping. To travel more rapidly, avatars can also fly up to about 170 m above the terrain without requiring any special equipment, and with scripted attachments there is currently no limit to how high an avatar can fly. Avatars can also ride in vehicles or purchase helicopters, submarines and hot-air balloons.
Airborne vehicles can fly up to about 4000 m high. For instantaneous travel, avatars can teleport directly to a specific location. 5
As we can see, new features added allow us to reach as realistic environment as possible and it develops noticeably fast. Talking about virtual game spaces it is important to emphasize that gaming became so demotic and user friendly, that now everybody can create his own game space without a deep knowledge of programming or even a good computer using skills. Consequently, people create a huge diversity of
various kinds of spaces. What amazes me is that computer game space is so broad and contains contrasting spaces, starting with almost historical, ancient looking environments and ending with surrealistic or futuristic.
REAL
There are not only imaginary places created in virtual world. In 1996, the city of Helsinki, Finland with Helsinki Telephone Company (since Elisa Group) launched what was called the first online virtual 3D depiction intended to map an entire city. The Virtual Helsinki project was eventually renamed Helsinki Arena 2000 project and parts of the city in modern and historical context were rendered in 3D.
Noteworthy, other virtual worlds are designed for more practical tasks. Take Microsoft’s Virtual Earth. Instead of creating a fantasy world, Microsoft is building a
virtual replica of the world we exist in. MVE general manager John Curlander presented a compelling look at the future of realistic virtual worlds. Curlander showed
videos of fully rendered cities, including Philadelphia and New York. The cities were presented from an immersive, three-dimensional perspective. Some 50 000 structures,
complete with accurate exteriors, made it feel as if it was real. You can get most of what you need from that – if not all. While not enchanting as Second life, urban planning is vital to the well-being of community. With accurate, detailed 3-D models of cities, that’s valuable asset for emergency responders. The company wants to render all
major population centers in exquisite detail. Curlander said and, in a nod to Second Life, added, “What we’re building is the “first life”- we are building the real world
framework. 6
I would like to give one example borrowed from Jorge Luis Borges (Argentine writer) of a society whose cartographers create a map so detailed that it covers the very things
it was designed to represent: “When the empire declines, the map fades into the landscape and there is neither the representation nor the real remaining- just the hyperreal. “
HYPERREAL
In semiotics and post-modern philosophy, the term hyperreality characterizes the inability of consciousness to distinguish reality from fantasy, especially in technologically advanced post-modern culture. Hyperreality is a means to
characterise the way consciousness defines what is actually “real” in a world where a multitude of media can radically shape and filter the original event or experience
being depicted. Famous theorists of hyperreality include Jean Baudrillard and Umberto Eco (Italian novelist, critic and philosopher). Most aspects of hyperreality can
be thought of as “reality by proxy”. For example, a viewer playing computer game begins to live in the non-existent world of the virtual. Baudrillard in particular suggests
that: “the world we live in has been replaced by a copy world, where we seek simulated stimuli and nothing more”.
Hyper reality tricks consciousness into detaching from any emotional engagement, instead opting from artificial simulation, and endless reproduction of fundamentally empty appearance. Essentially, fulfilment or happiness is found through simulation and imitation of a transient simulacrum of reality, rather than any interaction with any“real” reality. 7
Interacting in a hyper real place like computer game “Second Life”, gives the impression that one is walking through a fantasy world where everyone is playing along. Everything is a copy and the whole thing feels like a dream. What isn’t a dream, of course, is that the game takes your real money, which you are apt to give them when your consciousness doesn’t really understand what’s going on. Adapting Umberto
Eco’s quotation we could call it “The authentic fake”.
INOVATION
There is another kind of virtual space, which I dare to call the most progressive, advanced and creative.
The Solmon R. Guggenheim Museum plans to work with the New York firm Asymptote Architects to design and implement a new Guggenheim Museum in cyberspace. If this plan is going to be realized, an entirely new museum facility will be
constructed and it will be an ongoing work in process, with new sections added as older sections and renovated. The project will consist of navigable 3-D spatial entities
accessible on the Internet as well as real-time interactive components installed at the various Guggenheim locations.
For Asymptote, this important new work highlights their ongoing interest in merging technological possibilities with spatial manufacture, experience, and event. When
speaking of an architecture for the next millennium there are two conditions to consider the physical space of architecture as we have always known it where enclosure, form
and permanence will undoubtedly persevere, and the realm of virtual architecture, now emerging from the digital domain of the Internet. Objects, spaces, buildings, and institutions can now be constructed, navigated, comprehended, experienced, and manipulated across a global network. This is a new architecture of liquidity, flux, and mutability predicated on technological advances and fuelled by a basic human desire to
probe the unknown. The inevitable path for both these architectures, the real and the virtual, will be one of convergence and merging. Historically architecture has always
struggled with this dialectic of the real and the virtual, where the stability and actuality of architecture is tempered by the poetic and the ineffable nature of meaning and
experience.
The Guggenheim's own history, architectural vanguardism and cultural significance will serve to form unique scaffolding for this museum of the future. By combining the richness of this tradition with the potential offered by state of the art digital
technologies. Asymptote aims to create a new architectural paradigm. The Guggenheim Virtual Museum will not only provide global access to all Guggenheim Museums and
their services, amenities, archives, and collections but will also provide a unique and compelling spatial environment to be experienced by the virtual visitor. In addition, the
virtual museum is an ideal space for the deployment and experience of art and eventscreated specifically for the interactive digital medium where simultaneous participation,
as well as viewing is made possible for an audience distributed around the globe. As envisioned by Asymptote and the Guggenheim, the Guggenheim Virtual Museum will
emerge from the fusion of information space, art, commerce, and architecture to become the first important virtual building of the 21st century.
The detail in the picture shows the wire-framing of the galleries structure and highlights its dual state of transparency and opacity that function according to where the viewer is
in the space. The vertical bar bisecting it is a navigational tool that passes back and forth through the structure like a scan, allowing the view to access various zones of
operation. The smaller images below show the different states of the structure as the viewer moves through it.
CONCLUSION
I tried to describe and equally to understand what interests me in this new field - virtual space. Also, I made an attempt to sort the different kinds and ways taken in developing
those virtual spaces. I draw an inference that there are several singular types of the virtual spaces and put them in four different categories: 1. Unreal – the computer games
and other items which have entertaining purpose. 2. Real - the virtual spaces created by copying the real world and containing the more practical purpose. 3. Superreal – the
reality based places but artificialized to extreme. 4. Innovative – the type of virtualplaces which has the biggest potential and is made with quality, which some other types
of previously mentioned spaces is lacking. Generalizing, those spaces did not evolve as functional places with some basis in reality, as if they were creation ex nihilo (literally
“ceated out of nothing).1
Game and computer graphics today employ a technology which may further blur the line between the real and virtual world. Everyday these virtual worlds attract new visitors who live, work and play in environments that can be whatever they want them to be. And every day new worlds appear, expanding the online multi-verse. Virtual world can offer just about anything. Where does it lead, how does it change real worldand its appearance? If everything became so unclear that you can’t identify what is real and what is not, how can you be sure that you exist? Do René Descartes’ phrase:
Cogito ergo sum. (I think, therefore I am) 9 give any relief these days? Will the bounds between reality and “virtuality” start to vanish? I suppose I will leave those questions
for further contemplation.
Sources:
1. www.etymonline.com – online etymology dictionary;
2. en.wiktionary.org/wiki/virtual
3. Immanuel Kant “Critique of Pure Reason”, Cambridge Univ.Press, 1998;
4. David E. Cartwright “On the Will in Nature”, Berg Publishers, 1992;
5. www.activeworlds.com – virtual world building platform;
6. www.microsoft.com/virtualearth/ - interview with John Curlander;
7. Jean Baudrillard “Simulacra and Simulations” University of Michigan Press
1996;
8. www.guggenheim.org/exhibitions/virtual/virtual_museum.html - project
description;
9. René Descartes “Discourse on the Method and Meditation” The Liberal Arts
Press, 1960.
10. www.wikipedia.org - valuable source of inspiration and knowledge.
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