From: lwl@eniac.seas.upenn.edu (Lydia Leong)
Subject: Re: PHIL: Use of "VR" term
Date: 4 Apr 92 23:18:03 GMT
Organization: University of Pennsylvania



rmg53668@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Ryan M. Grant) writes:
>
>Hello, over in rec.games.mud they use the term VR a whole bunch.  Now I know
>many people hate muds and all but that isnt the point.  What do you think
>of the loose interpretation they use, where interaction constitutes most
>of their world?  What do you believe VR should mean?

MUDders tend to use the term "VR" to refer to anything not "RL" (real life).
It's the most convenient term to use, since the world of MUDs encompasses
several different subgenres, and VR is easy to type, easy to remember, and
has, within the MUD community, a commonly understood meaning.

Most MUDders wouldn't claim that MUDs are Virtual Reality in the sense
the word is used in the academic world. I think they're a step in the
right direction (especially Tiny-variety MUDs, which are least as much
'VR' as the Lucasfilm Habitat, IMHO), but they aren't Virtual Reality;
that term, in an academic context, is reserved for a graphically-based
world which one interacts with directly.

I suppose you could call VR anything which is a computer mock-up of a
universe with which one could somehow interact, but you're then getting
into too broad of a definition -- are regular video games VR? standard
text adventure games? I think not.

VR as used by MUDders is just a convenience term. You might be able
to get away with calling MUDs a form of interaction in cyberspace,
or a primitive form of virtual interaction and world creation, but
that's about it. "Real" virtual reailty must involve a physical
manifestation which interacts directly with one's normal senses.


/~\______________________________________________________________________/~\
|n|       Lydia Leong         | If there is anyone here that I have not  |n|
|~| lwl@eniac.seas.upenn.edu _| offended, I deeply apologize.  -- Brahms |~|
|_|_________________________|#|__________________________________________|_|