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From: portal!cup.portal.com!Tagi@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Newsgroups: sci.virtual-worlds
Subject: Re: PHIL: Virtual vs. Artificial Reality
Message-ID: <1992Dec20.194500.17777@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: 18 Dec 92 21:40:30 GMT
Article-I.D.: u.1992Dec20.194500.17777
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9212.18 e.v.
Sean Graves asks:
Is there a difference between virtual and artificial reality? I
have been under the impression that they are one and the same,
with 'virtual' being the usual term. However, I have a professor
who insists otherwise. Does anyone have a good reference,
or just opinion on the matter?
Response:
'Virtual' implies an illusory or incomplete level of existence.
It relates to a thing's substance, to its ontology, and its
ephemerality or insubstantiality.
'Artificial' relates to a thing's origin. Usually when people
say 'artificial' they mean 'created by humans rather than by
other sources'.
A thing can be artificial and virtual (an example would be a hologram
or a movie). It can be simply virtual without being artificial
(like a mirage) or vice versa (as in any product of human culture
such as a keyboard).
People tend to compare artificial with natural and virtual with real.
The meaning tells us how a person or thing is seen to relate to the
natural and the real. If humans aren't natural, then they see themselves
opposed to Nature quite often. If they aren't real, then they see
their selves as social fictions used for the purposes of communication.
Thyagi
Path:
psuvm!atlantis.psu.edu!psuvax1!uwm.edu!ogicse!news.u.washington.edu!stein.u.wash
ington.edu!hlab
From: portal!cup.portal.com!Tagi@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Newsgroups: sci.virtual-worlds
Subject: Re: PHIL: Virtual vs. Artificial Reality
Message-ID: <1992Dec20.194500.17777@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: 18 Dec 92 21:40:30 GMT
Article-I.D.: u.1992Dec20.194500.17777
Sender: news@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (USENET News System)
Organization: University of Washington
Lines: 36
Approved: cyberoid@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Originator: hlab@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
9212.18 e.v.
Sean Graves asks:
Is there a difference between virtual and artificial reality? I
have been under the impression that they are one and the same,
with 'virtual' being the usual term. However, I have a professor
who insists otherwise. Does anyone have a good reference,
or just opinion on the matter?
Response:
'Virtual' implies an illusory or incomplete level of existence.
It relates to a thing's substance, to its ontology, and its
ephemerality or insubstantiality.
'Artificial' relates to a thing's origin. Usually when people
say 'artificial' they mean 'created by humans rather than by
other sources'.
A thing can be artificial and virtual (an example would be a hologram
or a movie). It can be simply virtual without being artificial
(like a mirage) or vice versa (as in any product of human culture
such as a keyboard).
People tend to compare artificial with natural and virtual with real.
The meaning tells us how a person or thing is seen to relate to the
natural and the real. If humans aren't natural, then they see themselves
opposed to Nature quite often. If they aren't real, then they see
their selves as social fictions used for the purposes of communication.
Thyagi