21st Century Information Technology

21st Century Information Technology

Considering that I’m in the middle of preparing a presentation for another class on the topic of virtual reality (VR), I find it appropriate to begin this current project with Bolter’s and Grusin’s discussion about virtual reality. They posit that “virtual reality is immersive, which means that it is a medium whose purpose is to disappear” (p. 24). They argue that the disappearing act is near impossible because of all the apparatus that the user is required to wear. They further argue that “in order to create a sense of presence, virtual reality should come as close as possible to our daily visual experience.” Its graphic environment should be continuous and full of objects and should fill the user's field of vision without rupture. By rupture, they mean anything that disrupts or betrays the reality that one is attempting to create.

The creators of VR systems would ideally like it to be a perfect example of immediacy. It is closer to being a perfect example of hypermediacy. It is more an example of remediation.

Immediacy (or transparency) is a style of visual representation whose goal is to make the viewer forget the presence of the medium (canvas, photographic film, cinema, and so on) and believe that he is in the presence of the objects of representation. The more the user becomes engrossed with the content, the higher the level of immediacy.

Fully engrossed in the content, uninterrupted by the tools and controls

Hypermediacy is the notion that one can experience a form of media while being aware of not only the media being presented, but also the interface on which the media is seen. It incorporates medium and content and is usually how all digital media is presented. This is the opposite of immediacy.

Even though VR attempts to provide a fully immersive experience, it still needs the use of multiple controllers, headgear, computer-generated graphics, and many other accessories to create the experience. Another obvious example of hypermediacy is the desktop computer or laptop. They give us access to information but also have plenty of input devices to enable their use. The mouse, touchpad, and keyboard are a ubiquitous part of the computer experience. Even on the screen, once we go online, we are inundated with multiple forms of information. When you vist a site, sometimes there are popups with information, scrolling or sliding windows, and hyperlinks, which indicate further sources of information.

The mouse, keyboard, and interface all form part of the computer experience

Remediation is the representation of one medium in another medium. Remediation is a defining characteristic of new digital media because digital media is constantly remediating (or remaking) its predecessors. The existence of media is related to other media forms; it is fundamentally comparative and assumes that media does not possess autonomous formal or technical specificity, but that it exists only in relation to other media forms and practices. Remediation may or may not present a connection to the original source. New media does not present a historical break or rupture with the past, but rather it defines their newness through the refashioning of the present media forms.

Hyperland, by Douglas Adams, is a documentary film about hypertext and technology in general, and was created in 1990, nearly 30 years ago. The content is mostly predictive especially regarding how it forsees the development of the internet. If we take our relationship with technology today and lay it next to the ideas discussed in the documentary, we would see that our society is a near-perfect remediated version of the movie 30 years ago. It also touches upon the same criticisms and concerns that weare still expressing today about technology. For communications students and those interested in the development of technology, it is worth a watch.

Theoretical Foundations

Everything that we do, create, consume indicates that we are a heavily remediated society. Does it mean that as humans we are limited by anatomical dimensions? Intellectual capacity?

The affordance theory refers to the perceived and actual properties of a thing, primarily those functional properties that determine just how the thing could possibly be used. If we apply this theory to televisions, we can begin to see a link to the three concepts discussed earlier. What more can we do with the concept of a television? We can sit and watch it. What else? We can go to the theater and watch a much larger version of our television. There is the added social dimension to going to the theater. But ultimately, we sit (or stand) and watch. Televisions now come in the smart variety. They even come with super enhanced displays. That might be a way to create immediacy. But with all the other distractions, namely handheld devices, users don’t necessarily need to watch the television anymore. Smart phones and other handhelds have now taken a bite out of the television watching crowd. For many, the phone represents a way to have more control, more portability, and more options than a television. The television’s possibilities seem to have been tapped, thereby providing increased affordance to other media. Remediation seems to be most representative of the affordance theory. Since we keep remaking the same things over and over, it might seem as if we don’t have the capacity to see far beyond the things we already have. Maybe there aren’t too many new possibilities because we can’t see them.

Uses and gratifications approach emphasizes motives and the self-perceived needs of audience members. Because there are so many types of media offering entertainment options, people are in a better position to choose. Sticking with the television example, a person may have to decide between that and an iPad as the preferred form of personal entertainment. A television may have great graphics, great sound systems, and the technology improvements make them relatively affordable. A handheld device may offer the same benefits. How would this individual decide what to purchase? Does he want to make a statement by going for a 90-inch tv? Is he looking to save money and go with the handheld? All these decisions will have to be made against the backdrop of all the options that our human intellect can conceive.

This is a perpetuation of remediation. We are bound by our human vision and creativity, which keeps on regurgitating the same concepts and ideas. So, maybe we feel that we have many choices. Our perceived needs may differ from time to time, based on prevailing circumstances, but given similar circumstances over time, we just might make the same choices.