[ePub] The 'Cut' and 'Product' (Modern Plays) by Mark Ravenhill in Arts-Photography

Description

As this comprehensive and multidisciplinary book makes clear; virtuality has a pedigree that pre-dates the computer age and modern virtual worlds; a pedigree that can be traced back to classical mythology and beyond. Equally; the concept of virtuality is not the province of one field of study alone but is the foundation and driving force of many; both theoretical and applied.Our conceptualizations and applications of virtuality are multiple; as contributors demonstrate across the nine sections of the book that move from philosophy to technologies and applications before returning to philosophy again for a discussion of the utopias and dystopias of virtuality. The almost 50 essays contained within range freely across subjects that include the potential of virtuality; ethics; virtuality and self; presence and immersion; virtual emotions; image; sound and literature; computer games; AI and A-Life; Augmented Reality and Real Virtuality; law and economics; medical and military applications; religion; and cybersex.Throughout; contributors discuss differences between virtuality; reality; and actuality; in debates filtered through the lenses of the disciplines represented here; and speculate on future directions. It is not at all clear that there are differences and; if such distinctions are to be found; the boundaries between virtuality; reality; and actuality continually shift as ideas; modes of organization; and behaviors constantly flow from one to the other regardless of direction. The Handbook presents no unified definition of virtuality to comfort the reader; rather a multiplicity of questions and approaches underpinned by provocative statements that should further fuel the debates surrounding our notions of virtuality.