October 22, 2012

Planes of Existance


I had previously discussed the term remediation in my WEPO class a few semesters ago, but had only applied it to a specific concept or item being remediated to different mediums, i.e. Harry Potter from book to movie to website to video game to theme park etc.  I appreciate Bolter and Grusin pointing out the difference between virtual reality and telepresence.  Virtual reality being a completely immersive plane, separate and disconnected from the real world we live in, and telepresence being an immersion or blending of the virtual and the physical planes.  They use examples of astronauts controlling a robot covering and capturing images of terrain on mars, and doctors using technology to experience/treat their patients through a virtual medium to explain the blending of planes that is telepresence. 

They are quoted, “Telepresence can thus define a relationship between the medium and the physical world different from that of virtual reality. While virtual reality would replace the physical world with a simulacrum, telepresence brings the physical world into the virtual environment (and vice versa).” (214)  So my question is, does telepresence create a new medium through the blending of existing/constructed mediums or is it not that stable, is it solely a blend and not able to stand/be recognized on it’s own as a medium?  Personally, I believe that telepresence is a new type of medium created by the blending of two mediums, a plane that can stand on it’s own that is created by combining elements of two preexisting planes.  After all the planes we are used to can be morphed and interacted with by using tool sets, and rules set in place for those realms of existence, so why wouldn’t we be able to do the same with a new plane that utilizes elements from two separate plans.  A new set of tools and rules would need to be discovered and utilized to gain the most from this new plane, just as we are discovering new rules and ways to manipulate the planes which we are already a part of.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.