Bates, Joseph (1991). Virtual reality, art, and entertainment.
[On-line]. Available: http://www.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs.cmu.edu/project/ oz/web/papers/
Bates discusses the need for exploration of the issues of content and style as it applies to VR (Virtual Reality). These issues must be resolved in order to bring the medium of VR to the status of being a true art form. He presents three approaches that the Oz Project is researching in order to examine these issues: Cognitive/Emotional Agents, Presentation, and Drama.
Batchen, Geoffrey (1995, November-December). Spectres
of cyberspace.
Afterimage 23(3), 6-8.
This article is a good overview of the philosophic history of virtual reality studies. Although the issue of genre is not specifically discussed, this article forms a good foundation for academic study of VR.
Bukatman, Scott (1994, January). Virtual textuality. Artforum 32(5), 13-14.
Scott explores the intersection of VR and Hypertext and skillfully details the defining characteristics of each in terms of their mutually convergent and divergent aspects. This discussion helps to generate a point of view from which to begin defining the different genres of VR and Hypertext. After these twin media become more and more dispersed, Scott believes that VR and Hypertext will eventually merge into the same meta-medium.
Reality by other means (1996, June). Art in America, 84(6), 38-39.
This article does a good job of describing in detail a VR art installation by Char Davies that was displayed in a museum setting. For the purpose of defining a possible VR genre in art, this article is a good introduction.
Giuseppe, Mantovani (1995, June). Virtual reality as communication environment: consensual hallucination, fiction, and possible selves. Human Relations 48(6), 669-684.
Giuseppe explores three areas of VR studies. The first concerns the paradoxes that run through the medium of virtual reality, paradoxes that can now exist simultaneously together in constructive ways instead of the destructive ways. Through these paradoxes of perception and interaction, virtual environments become "consensual hallucinations". In the second area of discussion, Giuseppe examines VR fiction in contrast to traditional literary fiction. This section in particular helps to form an academic context for discussions of genre in virtual environments. In his final area of discussion, Giuseppe looks at the impact of the VR medium on consumers self-perception , as well as media self-perception constructed by the media.
Hsu, Jeffrey (1993, February). Virtual reality. Compute, 15(2), 100-104.
This article is a brief, yet concise tour through several areas of VR usage that may become recognized virtual environment genres in the future. He discusses VR arcade games, VR scientific research, Telepresence using VR technology, and home VR. He also talks about the current types of VR hardware interfaces, as well as ideal VR hardware interfaces.
Larijani, Casey (1994). The virtual reality primer. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, Inc.
Chapter 8 of this book, like Jeffrery Hsu's article, is a good survey of current manifestations of VR technology. It also touches upon the theoretical issues about style and content that are explored in Bate's article. Because this piece touches upon both the theoretical concepts of genre in virtual reality, as well as the current practical applications, I chose this piece for my presentation. Larijani describes in detail the VR applications of film special effects, VR arcades, virtual theatres, and VR museum art installations. The theoretical issues that Larijani touches on are the roll of directors, authors, actors, and participants in VR collaborative fiction. He also touches upon the usage of VR agents, as well as the application of music to VR.
McKenzie, Jon (1994, Winter). Virtual reality: performance, immersion, and the thaw. TDR 38(4), 83-107.
McKenzie makes a case that VR in itself is classified as being a genre unto itself. It is a genre of human-computer performance. While describing in detail many VR installations displayed at the 1993 SIGGRAPH (The Association of Computing Machines' Special Interest Group on computer graphics) conference, McKenzie makes theoretical observations on how VR is becoming less simulation oriented, as it was in its military days, and more performance oriented, as it is in the entertainment business after the technology of simulation has become available to the commercial sector with then ending of the cold war.
Morningstar, Chip & Farmer, F. Randall (1993). The lessons of Lucasfilm's Habitat. In M. Benedikt (Ed.), Cyberspace: first steps. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
Morningstar and Randall relate their experience of operating Lucasfilm's Habitat, a multi-user on-line graphical communication system similar to a MUD. They detail several lessons that they found to be important to current and future virtual environments. This article is an invaluable reference for practical application of virtual environments and forms a foundation for understanding the essential components of multiparticipant virtual environments that effect content and delivery of information in this medium.
Pimintel, Ken & Teixeira, Kevin (1993) Virtual reality: through the new looking glass. New York, NY: Intel/Windcrest/McGraw-Hill, Inc.
Chapter 12 entitle "Entertainment" is another good survey of current applications of virtual environments. He details the genres of VR entertainment systems, interactive video games, giant robot simulations and others. Especially of note is the detailed description of MCA's prototype for a virtual movie theater. Finally he reports on the operations of Rebel Arts & Technology, a division of LucasArts, that researches new interactive technology for use in the other branches of LucasArts.
Rheingold, Howard (1991). Virtual Reality: The revolutionary technology of computer-generated artificial worlds - and how it promises to transform society. New York NY: Simon & Schuster.
Rheingold creates the perfect mix smooth reading, and cutting edge ideas. In chapter 13, "The Origins of Drama and the Future of Fun", he takes us through a tour of VR entertainment works. He introduces us to the wonders of VR research at NTT and Fujitsu in Japan, and then leads us to explore the issues and discoveries relating to virtual theatre. He also examines the proliferation of text based virtual environments MUDs and MOOs across the Internet.
Wooley, Benjamin (1992). Virtual worlds. London: Penguin Books
Chapter 8 title "Hypertext" is a good critical look at how the "cybermodel" is affecting the relation of textual information using hypertext. He also talks about the issues of fiction in interactive novels including the ramification of non-linearity on narrative, as well as the metaphor of spacial navigation through a text as opposed to a linear progression.
American CyberCast: A Web based 'TV" Station
Digital Planets: Web based Multimedia studio
Atlantis VR: Reviews of VR Arcade games around the country