Virtual reality is no longer solely restricted to the pages of cyberpunk novels and science-fiction films. In the Boeing aircraft factories, employees wear glasses with small computer screens to have a better view of the production process. On Internet, work is progressing fast on the construction of 3D worlds such as Activeworlds in which hundreds of people can communicate with each other.
The highest standard in real-time virtual reality is at present the Nintendo 64 game computer. Super Mario, the little Italian-American man with the Japanese disposition, walks, swims and flies with ease. Lifelike, he conquers monsters and turns 360 degrees on his axis. The high image quality, the flowing animations and the realistic perspective make the effect of reality very great. It looks as if you yourself fall to your death when Mario happens to lose his foothold on a steep cliff. Activeworlds and Nintendo 64 provide an impression of what our world will look like in the near future. In the words of sociologist Manuel Castells: ‘It is not a virtual reality we live in, but a real virtuality.’
