Shel Israel did a great interview with Howard Rheingold, part 1 and part 2 are available now on Global Neighbourhoods. Part one, Where we’ve been, is about the intellectual background of Rheingold, with interesting comments on his experiences and sources of inspiration starting in the sixties. Part two, Where we’re going, makes it obvious how crucial this time in history is – I should also mention there is nothing deterministic in Rheingold’s thinking, he is not one of those who believe that technological evolution will solve all problems.
Rheingold was an early champion of virtual reality. This is what he says about it in part two of the interview:
In regard to social media, I’ve spent enough time in Second Life to see exactly how seductive to a small portion of the population an immersive virtual world with photorealistic or Photoshop unrealistic avatars that can not only navigate and communicate but build and exchange landscapes, buildings, objects with behaviors can be.
But it’s work to create an avatar and learn how to navigate it and where the action is. In an infinite landscape, human actitivies seem to take place far apart. So I don’t see such worlds as ever becoming universal.
It’s NOT the “future of the Web.”
However, I do see them getting less centralized and easier to use, and people will start inventing uses for them that we don’t foresee right now, and the population of enthusiasts will grow from a tiny cult following to a small cyber subculture. There are things you can do in such environments that you can’t do elsewhere.
So there you have it: it’s not the future of the web, but still inventive use cases can be found, so that the tiny cult will grow to a small cyber subculture. I must admit, sometimes I clearly feel the cult-like aspects – especially when avatars react on people who don’t believe in Second Life or in virtual worlds in general. When such people eventually change their position and “admit” there is value in Second Life, there is joy in the Second Life communities which can only be compared to the joy of the faithful for a conversion.
What is your take on this? Do you agree with Rheingold that while virtual worlds may have interesting use cases, they are not the future of the web and won’t be universally used? Or do you see virtual worlds being accepted on a truly massive scale?
Roland Legrand