Virtual Reality in Culture

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Iwona Marczak 25067011

When one considers that Heim describes Wagner’s Parsifal as a means by which the composer could elevate listeners into a different reality, the words, “Virtual Reality” spring to mind. Virtual Reality (VR) is just a more modern way of doing the exact same thing. What makes VR so interesting is that as human beings we are finally taking a step into the technologically unknown. The Industrial Revolution began making its mark over one hundred years ago and although our technological leaps have been great, it does make one wonder why it took so long for us as humans to get to this point.

Although letters and telephoning is a way that we have been able to communicate on a VR level, the level of interaction has been somewhat lower. With VR, a person can interact with a reality beyond society constructions and uses technology as a medium to do so. Because VR is a step into the unknown (and because it can not be defined or controlled), VR has been set apart from other technologies.

As Heim continues to explain, VR can become a mystical journey to many people. The possibilities of VR is so vast that no-one can lay claim to any piece of space that may belong to VR and in turn, no-one may say what is or is not possible within the realms of VR. Other factors must be considered such as the way the VR can update because VR can be enhanced through the use of other technological mechanisms including headgear, data-gloves or hand-held technologies that can assist with the updating of VR. This continuous upgrading will lead to a more enhanced sensation of VR which can, in a sense, make VR more “real”.

Whilst watching a film, the viewer becomes engaged in the film. Even when deconstructing a person’s behavior psychoanalytically, defining where a person was, that means, in which space in time this person was, is a highly controversial definition. One can definitely consider that the person was engaging in VR because the viewer was not plugged in to the reality the in experienced by almost everyone at the same plane or level.