The virtual future

by Bainbridge, William Sims

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Title Statements

Full title :The virtual future / William Sims Bainbridge.

Summary

The newest communication technologies are profoundly changing the world's politics, economies, and cultures, but the specific implications of online gameworlds remain mysterious. The Virtual Future employs theories and methods from social science to explore nine very different virtual futures: The Matrix Online, Tabula Rasa, Anarchy Online, Entropia Universe, Star Trek Online, EVE Online, Star Wars Galaxies, World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade, and The Chronicles of Riddick. Each presents a different picture of how technology and society could evolve in coming centuries, but one theme runs through all of them, the attempt to escape the Earth and seek new destinies among the stars. Four decades after the last trip to the moon, a new conception of spaceflight is emerging. Rather than rockets shooting humans across vast physical distances to sterile rocks that lack the resources to sustain life, perhaps robot space probes and orbiting telescopes will glean information about the universe, that humans can then experience inside computer-generated environments much closer to home. All nine of these fantastically rich multiplayer masterpieces have shown myriads of people that really radical alternatives to contemporary society could exist, and has served as a laboratory for examining the consequences. Each is a prototype of new social forms, a utopian subculture, and a simulation of technologies that have yet to be invented. They draw upon several different traditions of science fiction and academic philosophy, and they were created in several nations. By comparing these nine role-playing fantasies, we can better consider what kind of world we want to inhabit in the real future.

Edition Statements

Publication Date:©2011.

Publication Statements

Publisher(s):Springer
Place of Publication:London
Language:eng
Publication Date:©2011.

The Physical Object

Description:1 online resource (ix, 201 pages) : : color illustrations

Edition Identifiers

ISBN:9780857299048, 0857299042, 1283350793, 9781283350792, 9786613350794, 6613350796
DOI:10.1007/978-0-85729-904-8
oclc:ocn756763619
LC Classification:QA76.76.I59
Dewey Decimal:006.8

The City and the Stars -- The Matrix Online -- Tabula Rasa -- Anarchy Online -- Entropia Universe -- Star Trek Online -- EVE Online -- Star Wars Galaxies -- World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade -- The Chronicles of Riddick -- The Skylark and the Shuttle -- Index.

Subjects

Computer games -- Social aspects computer sciences computer techniques Computers Computers, General computertechnieken computerwetenschappen Design Education Electronic Data Processing Environnements virtuels partagés Informatie- en communicatietechnologie … Information and Communication Technolog… Informatique onderwijs ontwerp samenleving Shared virtual environments Social sciences Sociale wetenschappen