Virtual Space: A New Categorization

Description of Virtual Space
Mixed Reality is ultimately a combination of what we think of as a perceived combination or hybrid of virtual space and physical space. Through extensive personal experience and research on the topic, I have been able to identify three main categories which virtual space may fall into. These may be known as the Virtually Recreated Environment, the Virtual Fantastical Environment, and Virtually Collated Space.


Virtual Recreated Environment
A virtual recreation is constructed from information directly pulled from the physical environment. This includes visual geographical data, 3D computer models of buildings, or processes that occur in such environments. This type of virtual environment is usually employed for the purpose of research, design, or a sense of nostalgia or familiarity. It correlates as closely as possible to physical space which makes it useful for operations such as simulation and rehearsal. These environments are usually constructed to transmit information or to test hypothesis about physical processes or materials. For example, a virtual city may be reconstructed to allow visitors to ease navigation and plan routs before visiting the city in physical space. Another example of this is the use of 3D modeling software by companies to virtually construct a product for pre-production tests ranging from the physical properties of the product in certain conditions to how that product might fit into a human hand.

The idea here is that Virtual Recreation exists on a 1:1 correlation with physical space meaning that it resembles, reflects, and reacts in a similar manner to what we think of as our traditional physical environment. Events in Virtual Recreated Environment (VRE) are predictable because they operate through the same (or similar) physical properties (enabled by algorithmic programming) that we experience in our everyday lives. As a recent example, this seems to have become an ideal for many recent war video games that try as closely as possible to reproduce the extreme conditions, environments, and even sounds experienced by soldiers of war. In fact, many of these game production companies actually conduct hundreds of hours of interviews as well as land surveys to recreate historical environments for the purpose of online virtual battle. Another clear example is the recent development of programs such as Google Earth which I believe will become ever more refined, detailed and interactive as years pass, data accumulates, and the technology continually develops. In a way a recreation of our physical environment is to understand it by capturing it in a sense - we can now hold a virtual earth in the palm of our hand.


Virtual Fantastical Environment
Virtual fantasy exists as a type of space that follows select rules of physical space while also introducing outside elements and processes. When we explore a fantastical world through a created character, we might be able to fly, fight dragons, or listen to animals talk; but some elements (be it gravity, anthropomorphized characters, a narrative, or familiar objects) always ground it to some element of our familiar environment. This grounding becomes the common language which allows different users to interact with the environment. For example, to talk to another person most Virtual Fantasy environments require the user to be within a certain physical proximity of another avatar or character. This is quite intuitive and I have observed many new characters that immediately approach another character to speak with them (through a textual interface). So while the user's avatar might be a dragon flying through the clouds, they are still required to be in earshot of another character to interact with them. This is an example of the realistic grounding that creates the common language for communication. In other words, elements of the Virtual Fantasy environment may be out of place or unfamiliar, but for the environment to work as a common communication platform for a individual in physical space to interact with meaningfully, it must have some familiar elements of physical reality written into it.

Inhabitable virtual environments such as Second Life begin approach virtual recreation in places like Amsterdam (10 city blocks of Amsterdam virtually recreated in virtual space), but the ability for avatars to fly and the lack of complete construction methods (usually just textures plastered onto solid blocks) pushes this into the territory of Virtual Fantasy. Other environments such as SimCity approach Virtual Recreation in another direction by concentrating more upon the inner workings and complexities of a physical city. While this may be the case, these games remain in the realm of Virtual Fantasy for the reason that many enter these environments for a form of escapism or exploration. For this reason, Virtual Fantasy is usually employed for such environments for the purpose of making it different from, but still tied to reality.

Virtual Collated Space
Virtual Collation seems to be reserved for special use and is generally the medium of digital artists or theorists such as Mark Novak's Liquid Architecture. Virtual Collation is the compiling of different layers of information, input, or measured readings layered together either spatially or programmatically (code) in a meaningful way. The resultant combination may have a spatial quality, or may simply be represented by an object or even an individual. The information or input may be directly translated into graphical representations (2D - 4D) or is usually translated somehow into a common format to be interpreted by the inhabitants of this environment. Most of the recent interactive architectural projects utilize this type of virtual environment as it tends to provide insight or meaning into physical phenomena.

Physical phenomena utilized by this type of space can include light, sound, human input, environmental conditions, weather, or data. These are usually translated from local sensory equipment directly into a virtual spatial form. A great example of this is the project Synthecology which takes a musician's music (being played on a physical stage) and translates it into virtual sculptures which grow in a virtual garden. As the musician's change chord, tempo, or cadence, the virtual environment receives this information and incorporates it into the virtual sculptures accordingly. Thus, the sculpture becomes a virtual collation of information received and translated from the physical environment.

Other projects take this to a higher degree and actually produce types of space that are formed or changed spatially due to direct input from people in the local environment. An example of this type of spatial condition is the (Artist Studio) project that takes input from an art show (provided by the visitors to the show) and collates these physical experiences of the art into a virtually created environment. Thus the artwork is represented in a different form to be consumed differently and the visitor gets to experience the art show in an entirely different way (that still somewhat follows the meaning of the show). This way, the virtual environment becomes dependent upon the physical environment and this sets up a dynamic interaction between the two.

Simulation Space
Finally, what I am calling Simulation Space takes advantage of the virtual recreation category as it benefits most from a 1:1 correlation to physical space. Simulation space recreates physical space to a degree that it becomes useful as a practical tool or utility. Examples of this include flight simulators for pilots, software for 3D physical object development, and even some types of video games. Simulation space is the most direct form of Virtual Spatial Recreation as it is literally programmed with the Newtonian properties of physical space. This is addressed more comprehensively in a separate paper 'The Gamer's Rationale' that discusses the topic of simulation and culture in depth.

http://www.evokestudio8.com/Gamersrationale.html