Virtual Reality Technology :: Internet Online Communication Essays

Virtual Reality Technology The World of Virtual Reality is getting closer and closer to Neal Stephenson’s idea of the Metaverse in Snow Crash. In Snow Crash, the Metaverse is a world very similar to the world that we know it as, but with one major difference, none of the Metaverse exists. All of the Metaverse is a simulation. The Metaverse has everything that today’s world has, with may additional features. It has all of the buildings, streets, homes, and everyone is represented in what is called an avatar. An avatar is a digital representation of oneself in the Metaverse. The nicer or fancier the avatar normally means the more time or many spent on designing it. In some ways this is happening already. On the internet there are many games where a person can compete against another person, or a person can play a type of social game in which people get to meet others from around the world. The internet has simple chat rooms and there are also social games in which users will interact with each other. In Snow Crash, Stephenson tells how Hiro, the protagonist in the story, runs into two couples on a double date. Each person is represented as their avatar, and they go out on the town in the Metaverse just and in real life. The social setting to the Metaverse exists in many online environments in which many people meet online and date online.. A MUD would be very comparable to the Metaverse in the sense that a person can be the people in which they are playing. A person can navigate their way in Multi-User Dimension to meet other people and chat with individuals. â€Å"Life in a virtual world is s mix of creative playfulness, purpose and serendipity that needs to be experienced firsthand† (Dyril 1). A closer representation of the Metaverse is what is called a virtual world. Dan Costa sums up a virtual world best by describing virtual worlds as having â€Å"smooth chat features and realistic graphic environment, and they offer subscribers the ability to create unique avatars and wander freely† (Costa 1). This is very similar to Stephenson’s Metaverse in the sense that it gives users the opportunity to socially interact with other users without being physically present.