Mirror, Mirror

My new "Emerging Technology" column is up at Discover -- it's a tribute to David Gelernter's 1991 classic book, Mirror Worlds, which had a huge impact on me when I originally read it in the early nineties. In the piece, I tried to talk about the ways in which Gelernter's vision hasn't yet been realized, despite the fact that all the tools are now in place for it. Here's a quote from the lead-in:

Although virtual worlds are now attracting growing audiences that rival those of some television shows, the essential component of Gelernter's vision remains unrealized. Mirror worlds were not supposed to be an escape from reality; they were supposed to reflect reality. A modern-day city generates plumes of data the way 19th-century industrial towns generated smoke. There are block-by-block crime statistics, test scores for every student in every school, traffic reports updated by the second, demographic profiles by zip code, and so on. All of those numbers exist somewhere in cyberspace, but finding them is next to impossible. Gelernter envisioned a centralized repository for all this data, a virtual reconstruction of a space that would showcase everything going on in reality. Gelernter's simulated worlds were going to be mirrors. By comparison, the simulations we have now are fantasy islands.

If you haven't read Mirror Worlds, go pick up a copy -- it's as relevant today as it was ten years ago. But in the meantime, you can enjoy my column...

Comments

[Rikard Linde]

Of all the "applications" I've encountered in VR/3D worlds art exhibitions are my favourites. It feels very natural to glide around watching art and I get that feeling with both digital art and photos of paintings etcetera.
It's nice to encounter and digest art on your own. Often when I go to a museum it's with a friend and then we always analyze the art to death instead of just feeling and experiencing it.

[fabio sergio]

Thought-provoking article, as usual.
One idea/lingering doubt.

A mirror implies the existence of an original that's reflected in the mirror's surface, but in this case we are arguably looking not at reflection, but at a simulacrum, a copy with no original referent.
Information indeed wants to be free, in the sense that's it's oozing out of the boundaries we had set for it, and it is shaping what it was only meant to mimic.

In other words our frequentation of virtual environments has changed the way we perceive and relate to physical spaces.
In other words still, who's mirroring who?

[Frank Ruscica]

Providers of education a/o career services are good candidates to drive usage of mirror worlds, as the worlds will enable demonstrations of comprehension/mastery that employers will value as predictive of job performance...

A contemporary example/precursor of mirror worlds being used this way is the investment portfolio simulation (real-time market data, simulated dollars)...

[jessi]

It is vital that we recognize the pros and cons a "mirror world" would create. In one respect, I am fascinated and excited by the amount of information that could be available at my fingertips. Imagine being able to visit Italy, look inside a house for sale in DC, and research a doctor in Cleveland all in one sitting. But that is the problem...that one sitting could last hours, even days, depending on my involvement with the information! The question is, how can we limit the time-consuming possibilities that come along with these informational opportunities. As an earlier comment stated, this vast amount of data could potentially allow for hackers and terrorists to run rampant. Remember that Sandra Bullock movie, "The Net"? She lost her entire life to hackers because so much information about her was lurking somewhere in the internet. Hackers completely eliminated her from real-life existence. I'm not saying that will automatically happen, but it is a possibility. Along those same lines, I find something more rewarding in visiting Italy in the flesh, or seeing a house for sale and being able to step onto the carpet in the living room with my own two feet. I would appreciate being able to preview those destinations, but they could never satisfy me for the real thing. Half the adventure in travel and other aspects is getting there and experiencing it for yourself. I appreciate the idea of a mirror world, and I know these issues would have to be discussed and somewhat resolved before any concept of the world could be created. It is that process that I look forward to observing and participating in.

[Joel]

Your article was a long read, but I really enjoyed it. Just a couple of thoughts about a mirror world.

Wouldn't hacking and net terrorism be a lot different in a mirror world? I think the possibilities that hackers or terrorists could do online would be so much greater and more dangerous. I may be paranoid or overly cautious, but after reading a few of the books in the Net Force series by Tom Clancy, I feel that something like that would be possible today. If there was a mirror world, the risk would be even greater.

All in all, I think a mirror world would be an incredible experience. To be able to visit Tokyo virtually while in the US or vice versa would make this small world a lot smaller. I think a lot more people would be spending a lot more time on the internet though. Some other concerns I have are that the gap between those that are part of the digital society and those that are not would grow tremendously. The lifestyles between a US citizen and a third-world nation citizen are incredibly different. But with a mirror world, those in the third-world will continue to be left behind. The gap doesn't have to between people living in different nations either, already in the US there are huge differences between those that use the internet everyday like you and me and those that don't have the chance to.

Secondly, would any new equipment need to be purchased or would we explore these mirror worlds our computers. This is a minor concern compared to other ones I have though.

My last concern is the nature of the mirror world, would they be government run or controlled by commercial companies. Would there be politics online now or just even more advertising than now such as virtual billboards.

Either way, I am excited about what a mirror world would be like and what new things people would be able to do. I just hope we don't take this too fast and end up leaping into something we're not ready for.

[Eric]

Well as long as we're making references to fiction movies and books, I suppose we could ask how "experiencing" something is different than simply imagining it, a la "The Matrix"... but seriously.... Steven, I was actually wondering where the structure would be? Because it would seem that there would have to be some sort of structure, or mainframe. If it is to be a worldwide connection, one huge mirror world as opposed to many small isolated ones, who will make the rules, and how could they possibly be enforced? Just as with the internet, there are many rules - if you want to get on, you need a phone (or other information) line, or a wireless setup, modems and networks, those types of things... perhaps there could have been a different way to go about it, but this is the way it is now, so this is what we work with. I can really see the mirror world becoming like that - whatever happens the fastest and the most people do will become the standard, and it's difficult for me to envision anything beyond somewhat large, seperate mirror worlds, trying to interact but getting jumbled in the process. But back to the actual question - what's the structure, the foundation?

[Caliarmyguy]

I have not yet read Gelernter's book, but am looking forward to it after your post. It is sad to see how "virtual worlds" are becoming a way for some people to get away from their lives and jump into an, as you put it, "fantasy island" where they are who they've wanted to be. I don't think there is enough focus placed on this. Our world is becoming more focused on the individual and not interaction between individuals...

[Rikard Linde]

Cayce, the main character in Pattern Recognition often refers to a "mirror world". It's a very different kind than the one you are writing about Steven, it's her way of describing familiar items from the US in other contexts. Here's an example from when she visits England:
"Mirror-world. The plugs on appliances are huge, triple-pronged, for a species of current that only powers electric chairs, in America. Cars are reversed, left to right, inside; telephone handsets have a different weight, a different balance; the covers of paperbacks look like Australian money."
I find it fascinating how Gibson manages to make the world we inhabit feel fictious by using "tricks" like this.
Virtual/mirror worlds might feel awkward for the same reasons, they don't reflect the world exactly as we experience them.

[delicat_one]

How amazing it would be to have a mirror world, where I could learn about my friends and neighbors and begin to truthfully know them through the Internet. Instead I can interact with them in the "real" world or I can interact with them online where they have the ability to say or do or be whatever they choose. This is one of the things that frightens me about the virtual world. It seems to blur the lines between fiction and reality enough that it is easy to forget what is true.

How can we make the Internet more of a mirror world? And, if we can, do we really want to?

[Osoyoos B.C.]

Food for thought! Greetings from Osoyoos - B.C. - Canada.Osoyoos B.C.

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