The Hulk and scores of other films have been preparing us on the other cartoon side. © 2003 Universal Pictures. All rights reserved. Photo credit: Industrial Light & Magic.

But, for the moment, we venture into Cyber World. What happens when it comes to us? “All the avatars that I have experienced are clunky representations of reality and real people. I think that the goal of animation of visual effects is to enrich reality itself and human contact, not to replace them…” adds Kerlow. “... Talking to today’s avatars can be fun but it certainly hasn’t changed my perception of reality.” Will confronting a real avatar in 3D — or, better yet, in 4D (reality) — change my perception of reality? Because even 3D is a 2D effect until you can touch it, feel it... live it, “believe” it. And it’s personal.

After that, as they say in Ireland, “Bob’s your uncle.” Meaning, it’s a done deal.

You’re in My Cyberspace, Mon
Is 3D an “effect,” an “environment,” a “place”...? Check out the “interactive free-space display” on io2technology.com. Augmented reality — which, in my opinion, would be better called “annotated” reality (heads up display, for example) — has already subtly making the leap in the form of instant replay, multiple camera views in gaming, satellite positioning, etc. The distinction between player, spectator, author, actor and director will melt into one soon. Content creation is taking more and more the form of non-linear storytelling, too. A mocap shoot looks exceedingly like mecha… Steampunk. Kerlow adds, “I think that it can be very powerful when used appropriately and creatively. Mocap is clearly not traditional keyframe character animation, no arguments there, but it can deliver great animation. Look at the Gollum (a combination of mocap and keyframe) or some of those amazing videogame animation cut sequences.”

Today cyberspace is about Internet shopping, chat rooms, videogames, blogs, MUDS, HDTV, IMAX, scientific visualization, downloads, psychotherapy, physical therapy. Money, pornography, violence, politics. Tomorrow is about The Cyborg.

In the not so distant future, we’ll all be wearing electronic body gloves to live out the dreams money can and can’t buy. Because you know it’s going to cost something, right? And shortly after that our nervous systems are going to be hardwired to our make-believe lives where we’ll see, smell, taste and touch the virtual and our poor, addled brains will get used to the idea of flying, morphing, sex changes, confronting our demons and angels, etc… And gambling and losing, without the physical consequences. Our collective, assumed consensus of reality will become elastic.

Ah, liberation.

“We are definitely seeing some new art forms emerge as a result of the merging of different media…” continues Kerlow. “…Take, for example, videogames; many of them are compelling enough for teenagers and young adults to submerge themselves playing dozens of hours every week. Another example, interactive cinema — the idea that the spectator can participate and interact with the movie is pretty cool, and we are starting to see some promising examples of that. Many of these art forms are still in the early stages, but I believe the best is yet to come.”

British/Hungarian scientist Dennis Gabor, inventor of the laser, developed holography in 1947. He later said, “inventive minds ought to consider social inventions as their first priority.” He wrote three books expressing this viewpoint, Inventing the Future (1963), Innovations (1970) and The Mature Society (1972). He also said, “Though I still have much unfinished technological work on my hands, I consider this as my first priority in my remaining years.” Tielhard de Chardin’s “noosphere…?” “An intrinsically good spiritual state or collective consciousness” toward which humanity is evolving?