hyperreality or absent-mindedness?
Just before the weekend, I was in a meeting, and I mentioned that the topic under discussion in the meeting might also be of interest to my friend and colleague, Sarah Stewart. Oh, said Leigh B., who was also at the meeting, why don’t we invite her up to join us?
That might be hard, I said, as she’s back in Queensland, Australia.
No, Leigh replied. I saw her this morning, she’s here.
A quick check after the meeting revealed that Sarah and Leigh had “seen” each other on Second Life and Skype - and Sarah was in Australia.
Sarah and I both immediately went to thoughts of hyperreality and simulacra, as the use of the Matrix poster in her blogpost shows! For those who slept through their Baudrillard, simulacra and simulation in the Baudrillardian sense refers to the argument that humans experience “reality” only through symbols and symbolic representations - the map stands in for the territory.
What intrigued me about the whole situation was the mediated connection was so strong that Leigh was adamant that Sarah was in the building - he even gave her office a call! This so-called “death of distance” is becoming an increasingly common phenomena in mediated interactions (though perhaps rarely as extreme as in Leigh’s case!) as people experience intimacy, connectivity, and intellectual and emotional engagement with people physically removed but still present through the mediation of technology and channels of communication.
‘You’re never alone when you’re on the phone,’ was one old slogan, where it was implied that the phone allowed people far away to extend themselves into your space. With Second Life, Skype, and the plethora of IM platforms, the extension occurs both ways, as individuals project into a third (virtual) space to engage, interact, and satisfy both intellectual and emotional needs.
A lot of research energy is being put into questions such as photorealism and overcoming the Uncanny Valley in virtual worlds and social media spaces. But maybe they should focus not on what we see, but what we feel. With enough encouragement, our minds can take that pixellated avatar or staticky VoIP sound an make it feel like the other person really is there with us.
And then everyone else can tease you when you remember that they’re actually far, far away.
