Checking In With My Social Network:
Observations and Predictions of Virtualization
By Matt Henderson

I've reached a critical point of late where it seems necessary to examine my own orientation toward the virtual sphere.

I can try to define what I mean by "virtual sphere." It includes my own social media tendency (and the resultant "war for my eyeballs"); it includes my recent experiments with the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset and increased interest in the emergent medium of VR (Virtual Reality); and it includes my reconnaissance in the 3D virtual world of Second Life.

Additionally, I must include the myriad other media smatterings indicating an incoming tidal wave of new and congealing technologies which promise to transform us in ways we can only now begin to imagine.

All signs point toward a tectonic shift in the way we view and interact with data, media, and reality itself.  I am convinced that that the effects will be utterly transformative in the coming years, presenting astonishing opportunities as well as significant challenges to our increasingly data drenched culture.

But before I venture any further down this path of speculation, let me first acknowledge some of the pitfalls in these types of envisioning exercises.

First off,

Josh: When making predictions whereby we project ourselves into the future onto some imagined set of circumstances, we often fail to take into account our own evolution occurring in that time.

Ella: We can't know, for example, how future versions of ourselves, or coming generations will cope with an impending technology because we ourselves have not yet undergone the necessary changes which will allow that future technology to exist.

Josh: We must evolve with technology for it to coexist alongside us.

Ella: We should be wary of making of dramatic prognoses that will later appear foolish but can nonetheless see value in honoring thoughts and emotions which register in me currently as they will speak to the significance of changes incurred, while serving as a document for later review.

And so, I offer these reflections to future versions of myself, as well as anyone interested in considering the technological developments of the recent past and near future.

Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc.

Many of us have noted the extent to which social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter have permeated our lives,¹ particularly for those of us who can remember a time when constantly checking a screen or handheld device for texts, emails, and "activity" in our feeds was not a thing.

"Alerts" and "notifications" are like Pavlovian stimulants, spurring our dopamine and fueling our desire to feel "constantly connected”, it’s called a "dopamine loop". The internet with its invisible web of cultural engineers (among whom we can include ourselves) has honed its ability to stream novelty at us incessantly, and we've grown accustomed to its multi-fingered gestures, distracting polyrhythms, and shallow depths.

The once wild web has been harnessed by the same market forces which dominate television, but whereas television is a passive experience (viewers watch what is presented on a screen with little sovereignty except the ability to decide between channels) web-based social tools place users at the helm of a self-mythic narrative.

Through photos, videos, regular "status updates", and other recycled content, we tell our stories which are then reinforced by an odd schema of "likes", hearts, followers and friends. Our online selves, commonly understood to depict our "real life" selves, often resemble projections of idealized selves, something akin to a persona. ²

Social media can become a dynamic and engrossing sort of pocket mirror. The extent to which one becomes affixed to their reflection, and the reflections of others, in this prism differs from person to person, but such widespread experiments with constructed identity may represent mass culture's foray into further explorations of self and identity embodied by the virtual avatar.

Saul: For my avatar I went with a tall slender brunette in a business-e power suit. She looked intelligent and authoritative, neutral and nonthreatening.

Micah: It was fascinating to examine her from a multitude of perspective, shifting between first-person and third-person views.

Saul: The novelty of doing even ordinary things in a virtual environment was exhilarating: Walking... walking up stairs... saying 'hello' (typing it, really)... making my first in-world *friend* (a man? woman? called 'abuse me softly’)

Micah: The experience elicited a sort of naïveté in me, similar to travel, where one's attention is affixed to new customs and atmospheric nuances.

Saul/Micah: My first meet-up with a pair of "real life" friends at a virtual pizza parlor bordering a pet cemetery felt like an enchanted encounter, was imbued with a surprising poignancy.

Oculus Rift, VR Devices & Peripherals

Having charted the surge of interest in VR since 2014 via Kent Bye's Voices of VR podcast I can share some basic information and insights regarding these incoming technologies.

The Rift is a virtual reality head-mounted display created by Oculus VR. The device first gained attention through a crowd-funding campaign which managed to raise $2.4 million (through Kickstarter) to develop the product.

Further notoriety followed Facebook Inc.'s acquisition of the fledgling company for $2 billion, indicating an expedited road to mass markets.

Despite the merger causing a mixed reception, Oculus maintains a loyal base of supporters who look fondly on the company for having revived the VR industry, bringing it out from behind the walls of elite academic and military facilities.

The first developer kit version of the Rift (DK1) was made available through the Kickstarter in late 2012, followed by a second iteration (DK2) in early 2014, allowing any and all interested parties to begin making content for the device before the first consumer version becomes available sometime in 2015 we were told. ³

The key features of the Rift are low-latency head and positional tracking; high resolution, low persistence screens providing 110° field of view; and dual lenses giving viewers an illusory stereoscopic 3D perspective.

Additionally, 360° audio using HRTF and reverb algorithms will give the ears appropriate audio feedback corresponding to spacial cues.

In concert these functions induce high levels of immersion and a sense of presence in virtual space that one must experience first hand to believe. First-time users often appear stunned with mouth agape, others wear wide grins, some people get sick. But these reactions hinge greatly on the types and quality of experiences being seen or administered.

Recently a number of other head-mounted displays and peripherals have flooded the VR space including Sony’s Morpheus, Samsung’s “Oculus Powered” GearVR, Microsoft’s HoloLens, and recently, Valve’s HTC Vive headset with lighthouse tracking system showing promise.

Numerous peripherals such as Stem, Leap Motion, and haptic feedback controllers, and omni-directional treadmills offer further immersive potential, allowing users to walk, run, jump and crouch in place, while tracking hands, limb and body movements, and giving tactile feedback based on virtual stimuli.⁴

A slew of demo games and intriguing VR 'experiences' are now obtainable through download but require a Rift and a suitable computer to run.

One can try on new nails, be a commercial truck driver, visit a drug-hazed disco, pilot a spacecraft through a meteor field, watch the new Bjork video, correct a lazy eye, wield a light saber, and play a mounting list of video game titles, and more.

But all these experiences are merely scratching surface of VRs potential, which is in many respects unbounded. Just how and at what rate these technologies get integrated into broader society is anybody's guess, but for early enthusiast, especially those emphatically pursuing the emergent medium of immersive 3D content, a cross-industry renaissance has begun, and it's liable to absorb just about everything, literally all or most industries, into an entirely new and categorically different communications paradigm.

Valeria: The "real world”, if such a distinction can retain meaning in the coming years, is an ample cornucopia for the sensorium...

Nelly [interupts]: But it nonetheless becomes monotonous at times...

Valeria: Culture in many ways has homogenized, reality as we know it can seem overdetermined, making the majesty of unbounded possibility inherent to virtual worlds all the more appealing.

Second Life, High Fidelity, and virtualization.

Nelly: Not only do virtual worlds represent an uncanny recapitulation of reality rendered in computer-drawn charm, they are infused with innumerable magical embellishments.

Josh: Second Life content creators (and those of it's successor High Fidelity) seem to use commonplace reality as a jump off point to explore other imaginative realms.

Nelly: The result is an impressive amalgam of terrains, attractions, and quirky inhabitants similar to real life, but with expanded opportunities for communication, creativity and play.

Josh: One can fly and teleport around, to a mind-bending sculpture garden, seaside cabana, or square dancing club, all while shape-shifting their avatar into any conceivable form, from a dragon, to a dominatix, to a jar of marmalade.

I think we'll begin to see a massive migration into these spaces in the coming years, especially as the stigmas associated with virtual worlds begin to dissolve under the light of new and fetching technologies like the Rift, HTC Vive, GearVR and other VR and AR contenders.

The infinitude of newfound potential brought on by these technologies will surely have a notable impact on heretofore understood social paradigms, norms and behaviors.

Think of the escapist allure of smart phones in the liminal moments of everyday life. Now imagine being able to inhabit those fun, stimulating, social spaces that are our virtual retreats, and feel present within them, to varying degrees, at any moment.⁵

Nelly: There's only a faint and fading stigma to transcend before our beloved Social Media—a flat 2D scrolling version of a virtual world—graduates to the higher plane of immersive 3D environments.

Josh: These environments already come equipped with standard communication tools like messenger, voice chat, friends lists, and search, but the time is nigh that we begin to feel embodied within them.

Nelly: What we may not have realized in our habituating the quirks of social networks and the devices which support them, is that they have acted as the perfect training wheels for our inevitable integration into fabled VR—virtual reality.

Josh: The content is there already. It's kinda scary. All we’ll need to do is "step in."