Cyberspace: First Steps (The MIT Press)

Cyberspace, a term first coined by the writer William Gibson in his award-winning 1984 novel Neuromancer, has been described as an infinite artificial world where humans navigate in information-based space and as the ultimate computer-human interface. However one defines it, the virtual reality known as cyberspace is one of the most radically innovative of computer developments. These original contributions by leading thinkers in computer science, architecture, the visual arts, philosophy, anthropology, and industry, provide an insider's view of this new technology. Cyberspace - First Steps focuses on the theoretical and conceptual issues involved in the design, use, and effects of virtual environments, offering fictions, predictions, and proposals, forming a collective search for appropriate metaphors and possible structures that might provide the basis for future virtual worlds.… (more)