Re: Surrealist compliment generator - a hoax?

Lee Hollingworth (lee@giaeb.cc.monash.edu.au)
Sun, 14 May 95 9:25:40 EST

> If all we are talking about just providing a finished
> piece of "art" then it would seem we are debating the wrong issues?
>
> Not in my opinion. Art doesn't have to be technologically interactive
> for a user to mentally interact with a piece. That has been sort of
> my point: users will generate their own internal mental narratives
> about a given work of art, whether you want them to or not. You can
> try to influence their cognitive process, if you're into that sort of
> thing. Or you can just give them clouds to look at, and let them draw
> their own conclusions.

Sorry to go over this point again, but are discussing the feasibility
of creating one piece or "art" as a VR world, or are we talking about
the feasibility of a system that will allow "artists" to create their
own virtual world(s)?

> Wouldn't it be better to be providing a system that supplies all of
> the tools *any user* can utilise to create a surreal world? After
> all, I may not like yours :-)
>
> Sure, if such a thing were possible. There are only so many
> programmer hours,

Yes, but the number of worlds created should have nothing to do with
the number of programming hours spent on the project. Not in the
programming is done correctly the first time?

I think this has been a short fall of VR all along. Programmers or
analysts have been too narrow minded in what they design, and they
end up with a very _restrictive_ VR world. There is a system being
developed here in Oz called PHIVE which is a multi user system that is
largely free of these limitations, and has an "attribute" system
whereby you can change the properties of all elements within the
"world" (so you can walk through walls if you choose etc..).

Lee.