Heaven and hell in Virtual Reality

'Glimpses of Heaven, Visions of Hell - Virtual Reality and its Implications' by Barrie Sherman and Phil Judkins, published by Hodder and Stoughton, 1992, ISBN 0 340 56905 0, £12-99.

The illusory computer-generated world of Virtual Reality has been popularised in the latest arcade games in which the user wears a computerised helmet and enters a three-dimensional world of fights and races - a world which reacts to his or her movements. But Virtual Reality also has a part to play in medical and military training and in education; it has helped disabled people; and it is on the way to becoming the architect's and designer's friend. It seems likely to take over from television in the home just as television took over from radio. So say the authors of this book and they go on to raise some of the social implications, including the following:

  • Can we stand aside and watch young people or others become addicted to Virtual Reality worlds - especially if people do not realise that they will become addicted?

  • Can Virtual Reality be effectively censored? For instance, if people in Amsterdam were to organise a Virtual Reality sex orgy, would people in Britain be able to participate by phone link? If the law makes it illegal, how will they be discovered?

    'Will we have to copyright our bodies, movements and voices? Virtual body-maps of anyone could be stolen or pirated'

  • Will we have to copyright our bodies, movements and voices? Virtual body-maps of anyone could be stolen or pirated. Well-known people, especially film stars, apparently participating in interactive Virtual Reality pornographic programs, would make those programs veritable gold-mines.

    'There is no reason why your virtual self could not have direct genital contact by shaking hands'

  • Howard Rheingold in his book 'Virtual Reality' (Secker and Warburg, £16-99) takes it further still: What happens to social touching when nobody knows where anybody else's errogenous zones are located? There is no reason why your virtual self could not have its genital effectors mapped to your manual sensors and so have direct genital contact by shaking hands. And is disembodiment via Virtual Reality the ultimate sexual revolution or the first step towards abandoning our bodies?

  • What if someone impersonates your virtual persona in a business deal or a love affair?

  • Will prostitutes become unemployed?

  • Will the birth rate drop?

  • Will we be able to disarm the generals and fight virtual wars instead, with virtual champions to represent us?

  • Will we be able to prevent monopolies and cartels controlling Virtual Reality information?

    'Will safety officers want us to use virtual fairgrounds and theme park rides so that they can close the real thing?'

  • Will safety officers want us to use virtual fairgrounds and theme park rides so that they can close the real things?

  • Or will there be moves to restrict the leisure use of Virtual Reality with the arguments that virtual worlds are a cop-out, an escape into fairyland?

    Social Inventions journal will take a nostalgic look back on these speculations in twenty years' time, in its first issue for the year 2013.

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