Possible Worlds: The Social Dynamic Of Virtual Reality Technology - Hardcover

Schroeder, Ralph

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0813329558 ISBN 13: 9780813329550

Publisher: Routledge, 1996

Synopsis

Virtual reality (VR) has become a revolutionary technology allowing users to experience nearly unlimited computer-generated realitiesexercising a strong hold on the popular imagination, attracting hundreds of researchers, and spawning a booming industry. Possible Worlds provides a sociological and historical account of the genesis of VR and how it has shaped social life. The book also relates VR to more general issues in the study and effects of the new communications media, advanced research and development, the education and entertainment industries, and finally to youth culture and cultural expression. }Once a tool of the 1960s military through which virtual wars were staged and studied so that actual wars could be perfected, in the 1990s virtual reality (VR) has become a revolutionary technology allowing users to experience nearly unlimited computer-generated realitiesexercising a strong hold on the popular imagination, attracting hundreds of researchers, and spawning a booming industry. This book explores the complex significance of this technology to popular culture. It provides a sociological and historical account of the genesis of VR and how VR has shaped social life, and then relates VR to more general issues in the study and effects of the new communications media. Explained is VRs relationship to advanced research and development, to the education and entertainment industries, and finally to the culture of cyberpunk, youth culture, and cultural expression. Taken as a whole, Possible Worlds provides a complete understanding of this complex and exciting technology. }

About this title

About the Author

Ralph Schroeder is lecturer in sociology at Royal Holloway, University of London.

Edition details

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 1996
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0813329558
• ISBN 13: 9780813329550
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 224