Hamlet on the Holodeck: The Future of Narrative in Cyberspace

Amazon.com

Technology changes storytelling--movies don't tell stories in the same manner as wandering bards. Janet H. Murray, director of the Laboratory for Advanced Technology in the Humanities at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is fascinated with the changes emerging technologies may bring. Interactive tales, more versatile structures, stories as games, and games as stories are among the topics she explores in her very personable and entertaining style. And what about fears that interactive escapism could be the coming addiction? She makes an unblinking examination of this question with insight into both the technological possibilities and the strengths of the human psyche. Strongly recommended for anyone who loves the art of storytelling in any medium.

Book Description

Stories define how we think, play, and understand our lives. In this comprehensive and readable book -- already a classic statement of the aesthetics of digital media, acclaimed by practitioners and theorists alike -- Janet Murray shows how the computer is reshaping the stories we live by.

Murray discusses the unique properties and pleasures of digital environments and connects them with the traditional satisfactions of narrative. She analyzes the dramatic satisfaction of participatory stories and considers what would be necessary to move interactive fiction from the formats of childish games and confusing labyrinths into a mature and compelling art form. Through a blend of imagination and techno-wizardry, Murray provides both readers and writers with a guide to the storytelling of the future.

(cloth published by Free Press, 1997)

Customer Reviews:

There's no future in Murray's dreaming..........2005-02-14

This book came highly recommended to me. With all the hype surrounding its apparent genius I expected to be blown away. Sadly though, this book comes across as someone who has just played a video game for the first time (MYST) and decided that the kids might be on to something. Murray proclaims that one day in the distant future, they'll make a 'holodeck' and we'll finally have true immersion. In the mean time, we can gloss over all the interactive components that make such an experience compelling in the first place. The future of gaming/narratology/ludology whatever-you-want-to-call-it is already here. You don't need a "VR Suit" or some imaginary technology to have a truly immersive experience. Her woefully uninformed look at the games of her day are completely inexcusable:

"...interactors will be lured into worlds where they float, tumble, and arc through thrillingly coloured spaces, fly through imaginary clouds and swim lazily across welcoming mountain ponds. The nightmare landscape of the fighting maze, in which we feel imperiled may give way to enchanting worlds of increasingly refined visual dealight that are populated by evocative fairy-tale creatures."

At the time of this book's publishing (1997) games such as Jumping Flash, Mario 64, and Tomb Raider had already taken the world by storm. By reducing contemporary gaming to mindless, juvenile violence (while championing those themes in 'War & Peace', 'Hamlet' and 'Star Trek') Murray shows a complete lack of interest and imagination.

The heavy hand of narrative is not the only way to tell a story. We don't need a "cyberdramatist" the likes of a Dickens or a Shakespeare to show us the way. She could have explored the work of Miyamoto, Wright or Kojima and the stories that arise out those gaming experiences. Instead she focuses on the Miller Brothers because they offered up the most conventional form of storytelling. Eight years on, their impact is almost forgotten. Above all, people want to act - not in the theatrical sense, but in the name of imaginative 'play'. Maybe someday she'll prove us all wrong and the "Dr. Quinn Holodeck" will sweep us up in the rapturous joy of existing in a town populated by:

"...blacksmiths, barbers, general store owners, saloon keepers, scouts, and, of course, female doctors and who could be given their own homesteads or boardinghouse rooms in particular physical locations within the fictional world."

Sounds like fun.

Criticism aside, I did enjoy the chapter "Eliza's Daughters". Murray's look at procedural characters and believable agents proved informative and intriguing. If only the rest of the book were as objective and plausible then I might actually believe the hype surrounding, "Hamlet on the Holodeck".

playing with Story in cyberspace.......2001-08-19

janet murray's book is a seminal work for anyone interested in what story-entertainment is going to look like in cyberspace.

imagine if you were alive in 1889 when the movie camera was invented. it was not immediately obvious that this new invention would play a role in the world of story. There wasn't until the teens of the 20th century that dw griffith developed a language of story on film... and not until the early teens until the movie theatre with pop corn came upon the scene.

we are at a similar place with the new technologies of digitalness, cbyberspace, interactivity, ..... as humans were with the movie technology over 100 years ago.

janet murray's book gives us the thinking of the best minds at the MIT Media lab as to what might be going on here.

a great book...

Take a spin into the midst of the future.......2001-02-05

Some may find this terse, warmly witty, and tidy treatise about "whither literature in the world of CyberSpace" as just too esoteric to read. Stop. This is not a book grieving over the lost art of words and writing that nurtures the lives of all readers. This wise book is a guide to the possibilites that elude pessimists wary of the ultimate effects of the computer on this century. Relax, discover the possibilites about which you've never dreamed, and let Murray tell you some stories in the mode of the future. For writers, for teachers....but also for the committed readers. Enjoy!

Superb look at the structures of digital storytelling.......1999-04-20

Great book that gives an thorough account of the structures that are given by the format of the digital media. You not only learn to analyse how digital storytelling works but also how it could and should migrate from the status quo to elevate itself onto the next literary level. To anybody who is interested in digital storytelling I recommend this book with all my heart.

The history of the video game meets narratology.......1999-02-09

I'm writing a dissertation on postmodern literature and thus had the pleasure of considering this book as research. The truth of the matter is, that in the dull, dry world of books on narrative theory, this one was FUN! This is exactly the point- video games and Star Trek have EVERYTHING to do with the way narrative works today, (which Murray compares with the way it worked in Shakespeare's time,) and will work once the average American can no longer remember a time when video games had no graphics.

It's fun AND it shows how things are changing and how quickly.

Average customer rating:

great book, well done
Wands Greatest Work Yet
A recommended pick for any art library.

Art of the Digital Age

Manufacturer: Thames & Hudson
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0500238170

Book Description

The first major illustrated survey of this exciting, new, and experimental field.

Building on the traditions of art history and using advanced technologies, digital artists push the boundaries of artistic expression and explore some of the most urgent social, political, and biological issues facing humankind today.

Traditional activities such as painting and sculpture have been radically transformed by digital techniques and media, while entirely new forms, such as Net art, digital installation, and virtual reality, have emerged as recognized artistic practices, collected by museums, institutions, and individuals the world over. All the diverse forms are featured here: digital prints, sculpture, and interactive installations; DVD and CD-ROMs; digital animation and video; Web sites and software art; new media performance and music. Bruce Wands presents an overview of the main characteristics of each category and discusses in detail specific works selected by a panel of curators as the most important of their kind.

Quotes, statements, and other texts from digital artists, curators, and theorists of new media appear throughout the book to provide further illuminating insights.

An introduction traces the history of digital art from its tentative beginnings in the 1960s to its full emergence in the 1990s, while the final chapter speculates on what the future might bring for this rapidly changing art form. A reference section includes a year-by-year time line of milestones in digital art, both artistic and technological, an extensive bibliography, a glossary, and a list of artists' Web sites and online art projects. 250 color illustrations.

Customer Reviews:

great book, well done.......2007-05-30

THis book is very well done, very nicely printed, everything - well worth the money. - the only thing I didn't like was the fact that it didn't share anything about how the artist created the specific piece (i.e. what programming language or software was used, etc)

the pieces enclosed were just fantastic, and I'm glad I bought the book.

Wands Greatest Work Yet.......2006-09-30

After reading this book and experiencing the incredibly well produced and expertly printed visual images it is clear that this book is one for the times. It is one that can be opened and opened again and again never losing its constant appeal. Very well worth the price and I highly recommend it to everyone.

A recommended pick for any art library........2006-09-24

ART OF THE DIGITAL AGE represents the first major illustrated survey of digital art and gathers works by over a hundred artists from around the world. Introduced by a history of the genre and discussion of how it differs from conventional art, chapters provide key works by established and emerging digital artists and pairs discussions of virtual reality and digital effect with critical insights on the featured artists. Color photos abound in this fine comprehensive survey, a recommended pick for any art library.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

The Virtual Window: From Alberti to Microsoft

Average customer rating:

Understanding "Windows" and "Screens," Past and Present

The Virtual Window: From Alberti to Microsoft
Anne Friedberg
Manufacturer: The MIT Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0262062526

Book Description

As we spend more and more of our time staring at the screens of movies, televisions, computers, and handheld devices--"windows" full of moving images, texts, and icons--how the world is framed has become as important as what is in the frame. In The Virtual Window, Anne Friedberg examines the window as metaphor, as architectural component, and as an opening to the dematerialized reality we see on the screen.

In De pictura (1435), Leon Battista Alberti famously instructed painters to consider the frame of the painting as an open window. Taking Alberti's metaphor as her starting point, Friedberg tracks shifts in the perspectival paradigm as she gives us histories of the architectural window, developments in glass and transparency, and the emerging apparatuses of photography, cinema, television, and digital imaging. Single-point perspective--Alberti's metaphorical window--has long been challenged by modern painting, modern architecture, and moving-image technologies. And yet, notes Friedberg, for most of the twentieth century the dominant form of the moving image was a single image in a single frame. The fractured modernism exemplified by cubist painting, for example, remained largely confined to experimental, avant-garde work. On the computer screen, however, where multiple "windows" coexist and overlap, perspective may have met its end.

In this wide-ranging book, Friedberg considers such topics as the framed view of the camera obscura, Le Corbusier's mandates for the architectural window, Eisenstein's opinions on the shape of the movie screen, and the multiple images and nested windows commonly displayed on screens today. The Virtual Window proposes a new logic of visuality, framed and virtual: an architecture not only of space but of time.

Customer Reviews:

Understanding "Windows" and "Screens," Past and Present.......2006-11-27

The movie screen, the TV screen, and the computer screen have become part of our everyday experience - substitutes for the architectural window that frames a view, and for the frame around a painting. But only in the last two decades have multiple screens become familiar. Typically film and TV both display a single frame on a single screen, despite other possibilities. What does it mean to "frame" an idea or experience using the new digital technologies? How does it change our "perspective"? Anne Friedberg takes up these issues with extraordinary theoretical sophistication and an impressive knowledge of history.

From Technological to Virtual Art (Leonardo Books)

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From Technological to Virtual Art (Leonardo Books)
Frank Popper
Manufacturer: The MIT Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 026216230X

Book Description

In From Technological to Virtual Art, respected historian of art and technology Frank Popper traces the development of immersive, interactive new media art from its historical antecedents through today's digital, multimedia, and networked art. Popper shows that contemporary virtual art is a further refinement of the technological art of the late twentieth century and also a departure from it. What is new about this new media art, he argues, is its humanization of technology, its emphasis on interactivity, its philosophical investigation of the real and the virtual, and its multisensory nature. He argues further that what distinguishes the artists who practice virtual art from traditional artists is their combined commitment to aesthetics and technology. Their "extra-artistic" goals -- linked to their aesthetic intentions -- concern not only science and society but also basic human needs and drives.

Defining virtual art broadly as art that allows us, through an interface with technology, to immerse ourselves in the image and interact with it, Popper identifies an aesthetic-technological logic of creation that allows artistic expression through integration with technology. After describing artistic forerunners of virtual art from 1918 to 1983 -- including art that used light, movement, and electronics -- Popper looks at contemporary new media forms and artists. He surveys works that are digital based but materialized, multimedia offline works, interactive digital installations, and multimedia online works (net art) by many artists, among them John Maeda, Jenny Holzer, Brenda Laurel, Agnes Hegedus, Stelarc, and Igor Stromajer. The biographical details included reinforce Popper's idea that technology is humanized by art. Virtual art, he argues, offers a new model for thinking about humanist values in a technological age.

Multimedia: From Wagner to Virtual Reality, Expanded Edition

Average customer rating:

It is a digital world we live in...
Great Intro to this Topic
An Excellent Resource for Digital Media Enthusiasts
An Excellent Collection of Fascinating Contributors
The book is a must read; the web site is a must see!

Multimedia: From Wagner to Virtual Reality, Expanded Edition

Manufacturer: W. W. Norton & Company
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ASIN: 0393323757

Book Description

"I recommend this book to you with an earnestness that I have seldom felt for any collection of historic texts," writes William Gibson in his foreword. Tracing the fertile series of collaborations between arts and sciences throughout the twentieth century, Randall Packer and Ken Jordan present the often overlooked history behind multimedia—the interfaces, links, and interactivity we all take for granted today. "Many of the papers that had profound impact upon my development—to say nothing of the entire industry—are here," raves Donald A. Norman, author of The Invisible Computer.

In "an evocative whirlwind tour through 100 years of work" (Wired), Packer and Jordan bring together an "historically significant" (Slashdot) collection of the groundbreaking visions of scientists like Vannevar Bush, Douglas Englebart, and Norbert Wiener, and artists like John Cage, Nam June Paik, and William Gibson. Their insightful explanations of the core concepts behind multimedia provide historical context that "reads like a Western civ of modern media" (Film/Tape World).

Customer Reviews:

It is a digital world we live in..........2006-11-10

With the progression of human culture in the digital age developing as it is, it's intriguing to look back at even the recent past and see where we've been and where we were thought to be going. The collection of writings in this volume are invaluable and often shockingly ahead of their time. Anyone who expects to be successful in the future - in this ever-evolving digital world - would benefit by reading this book, and sooner rather than later.

Great Intro to this Topic.......2006-11-10

I had to get this book for a class, but am very happy I was introduced to these theories. I'd recommend it for anyone interested in the topic of where online media is going.

An Excellent Resource for Digital Media Enthusiasts.......2006-11-04

From Futurist Cinema, to artificial intelligence, to cyberspace, this collection highlights the origins of multimedia, its influences, its directions, and its future possibilities. It includes an insightful and comprehensive introduction by Packer and Jordan themselves, and the authors they have chosen to include in this work reflect the vast landscape of multimedia in its many iterations: Vannevar Bush, William Gibson, Norbert Wiener, John Cage, and Janet Murray, just to mention a few. This book is a must-have for anyone interested in peeking below the surface of multimedia evolution.

An Excellent Collection of Fascinating Contributors.......2002-05-28

Reading this collection of articles gave me a better understanding of the people and ideas that helped shape computer-based communication. The contributors are for the most part well chosen; a few that I might well have done without, I must admit -- but far more excellent choices than "questionable" ones. The organization of the book is interesting as well. I was reminded of the magazine "Mondo 2000" that I subscribed to in the early '90's (multimedia/geek chic).

The book is a must read; the web site is a must see!.......2001-06-13

This book is a must read for anyone interested in modern art and culture, and where its going. The companion web site on www.artmuseum.net is a brilliant compliment to the book, with 50 video clips, rare photos and other treats. Finally, a publishing project that "gets it" how to use the web + printed book in a way where the sum is greater than the parts. Its amazing to see how long artists and scientists have been working (alone, and in some cases together) towards this goal. Prehaps the following decade will witness a true "waking up" by the mass culture to this new syntax, new reading-practice, of multi-media hyper-texted information. This book may mark a point in time where we started acknowledging the depth and extent of our post-Guttenburg world. Bravo to Randall Packer and Ken Jordon for pulling this project off.

Average customer rating:

Prentious & Predictable

Asymptote: Flux
Lise Anne Couture , and Hani Rashid
Manufacturer: Phaidon Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Asymptote, an award-winning New York City-based architectural firm, expands the boundaries of traditional practice with work that ranges from buildings and urban design to computer-generated environments. Recognized internationally as both cutting-edge architects and virtual-reality artists, Asymptote partners Lise Anne Couture and Hani Rashid have designed and written the first book to document their 'real world' (as opposed to virtual) projects completed since 1995. It includes work as diverse as a trading floor for the New York Stock Exchange; a multimedia research park in Kyoto, Japan; a modular furniture system for Knoll; and a centre for art and technology for the Guggenheim Museum in Soho, New York.

Rashid and Couture's work is intriguing because it draws inspiration from a wide range of sources not traditionally associated with architecture - among them the design of airline interiors, sporting equipment, and organic systems like seashells and honeycombs; and various means of communicating and disseminating information. Asymptote presents a seamless trajectory of projects organized in a non-linear fashion and illustrated with installation photographs, collaged photographs, and computer-generated diagrams and environments. The projects are interspersed with descriptive text and the speculative writing that Asymptote is known for.

Both partners combine architectural practice with teaching, Rashid at Columbia University and Couture at Columbia and Parsons School of Design.

Customer Reviews:

Prentious & Predictable.......2004-05-13

Don't be fooled by Rashid and Couture's slick graphics. Their oeuvre has more to do with the capabilities of computer graphics programs than it does with quality architectural spaces. And the writing is predicatable archi-speak blather carefully crafted to sound more important and serious than it is. Asymptote are one of the many anti-architecture, anti-humanist firms walking the hackneyed architectural walk these days. From the prentious table of contents to the predicatable collage graphics, this book is as commonplace as Starbucks, and offers about as much to urban design today. Give it a miss.

Average customer rating:

Computer Recognition
A complete and expert analysis and collection of such a popular and innovative science
An interesting overview of robotics and machine intelligence
Describing the Current State of the Art in Robotics

Robots Unlimited: Life in a Virtual Age
David Levy
Manufacturer: A K Peters, Ltd.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1568812396
Release Date: 2005-10-31

Product Description

Consider this -- Robots will one day be able to

write poetry and prose so touching that it will make men weep

compose symphonies that rival the work of Mozart

judge a court case with absolute impartiality and fairness

converse with the natural ease of your best friend.

Robots will one day be so life-like that a human could fall in love and marry one.

Thought Provoking and controversial? Certainly.

Farfetched? Not at all.

In the 50 years since the inception of Artificial Intelligence, computer scientists have made remarkable achievements that can be seen in computer games, childrens toys, your home PC and nearly every facet of human life. In this popular approach to understanding AI, David Levy captures the essence, excitement and potential of Artificial Intelligence. He lays the factual foundations for his intriguing speculations by presenting the history of AI from its earliest conception to present day. He then considers the most recent advances and makes predictions about the future of this burgeoning science.

Customer Reviews:

Computer Recognition.......2006-12-26

Charge coupled device (CCD) count the number of electrons within each pixel. Each number is stored, so the whole image can be represented by a series of numbers. Computers can see my means of this device and attempt functional replication of the eye. In a color image the numbers represent both the hue and intensity of the pixel.

One of the earliest vision problems to be subject to machine recognition was hand-writing technology. Character segmentation is important because printed characters can be of different size and can be separated by neighbor characters by different distances. The PDA made handwriting recognition an important field of research. The recognition system possess information about how the characters were written, writing direction and the writing order of the strokes and match with the shape of stored characters. In 1960, Israel Gelfand, at the USSR Academy of Science developed a successful natural handwriting technology. Stefan Pachikov founded paragraph International which SGI later buys. NHR technology underlying idea is that fact that cursive handwriting is a series of movements made by a writing instrument. Each movement can be represented by one more more of eight elements that are sufficient to describe all the trajectories of the pend found in the cursive letter of the Roman alphabet. The analytical word recognizer is based on a database of symbol prototypes and neural network generalized pattern recognition schemes and training.

Human Face recognition differentiates unique physical attributes about a person face, the different heights, depths, and weights. Computer vision systems can pick peoples face out of a crowd almost instantaneously and measure various features of that face and compare the measurements with those faces stored in the database. Everyones face has distinguishable features for example peaks and troughs. There are about 80 of these features on the human face, including distance between the eyes, the width of the nose and the depth of the eye sockets. The computer after measuring the face creates a numerical number representing the face. Usually 14 to 22 of the 80 features in a face print is enough to complete the recognition process. Video surveillance system search for face in Low resolution image of the scene and switches to a high resolution search when a head-like has been spotted. Once a face is detected, the system determines then determines the position, size and pose of the head. The image of the head is then scaled up or down in size and rotated in the same size and pose employed for faces in the system's database. The most successful recognition system can match faceprints at 60 million per minute.

MobileEye acts as a silent driver assisting with Forward looking, side mirror, and in cabin recognition. MobileEye can detect cars moving into the passing lane, distance ranges, and switch attention by changing colors indicating possible collision objects, pedestrians moving into the travel lane, and off-road path finding. The recognition software can watch passenger position and make decision for airbag deployment. Cameras on the side mirror can watch blind spots and warn for sudden merges into the passing lane by other cars. Side mirror recognition differentiates between cars not within collision and those who are. Forward looking recognition system can recognize markings on the road. "The system fits a three-parameter road model that accounts for lateral position, slope and curvature. The curvature parameter is used for increasing the warning reliability under curved roads and for estimating time to lane crossing."

The ears of a computer are microphones, devices that contain some sort of diaphragm that vibrates in concert with audible sound. The vibrations are converted to electrical signals, which can be displayed as a waveform on a screen or measured electronically. Speech recognition is recognizing waveforms. Different people can say the same word with different pitches, speeds, and intensities; all these variation change how the word is said. Dynamic time warping has the affect of stretching or compressing segments of the speech sound in a word, in order to make the waveform easier to match with a store waveform. A technique called Hidden Markov Models HMMs are used to recognize phoneme strings and calculate summed values for all possible combinations of the sounds. The highest probabilities phoneme string is selected. Visual recognition systems are being used to watch lip movement and use context feedback to improve speech recognition.

A complete and expert analysis and collection of such a popular and innovative science.......2006-04-04

Robots Unlimited: Life In A Virtual Age by David Levy (leader of the winning team of the Loebner Prize Competition in 1997) is a highly researched and historically impressive documentation devoted to the past fifty years of research and development in Artificial Intelligence and Robotics. As an informative and superbly written study, Robots Unlimited offers readers an outstanding historical survey and a seminal reference to the many intricacies of an ever-escalating modern science in these specialized fields, as well as knowledgeable and intuitive predictions of what the future may bring for robotic and artificial intelligence breakthroughs. Very strongly recommended to all students of Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, and relevant technological advancements, Robots Unlimited gives its readers a complete and expert analysis and collection of such a popular and innovative science.

An interesting overview of robotics and machine intelligence.......2006-01-26

Throughout the last five decades, fed by both curiosity and military requirements, the design and construction of robots has occupied the time of many researchers, and involved the spending of hundreds of millions of dollars. In this book the author presents an overview of robotics for a semi-popular audience, beginning with a fairly detailed summary of the early history of artificial intelligence. It should be remembered that robotics is but one subfield of artificial intelligence, and that the latter field encompasses much more than the building of humanoid-looking machines. And interestingly, when one compares the research forty or even fifty years ago with what is going on at the present time, it is readily apparent that the differences are more of quality rather than quantity.

But intelligent machines do not have to take the form of humanoid robots. Hollywood and science fiction novels are partly responsible for this attitude, as are the philosophers, who insist upon the Turing test as being a genuine test for machine intelligence. It is evident when reading the book, especially the last part, that the author will not be convinced of the existence of intelligent machines until they do most, if not all, of the things that humans do. This includes the ability to make love, the ability to reproduce, the possession of legal rights, the possession of consciousness, and the ability to feel emotion and fall in love. A machine taking the form of a humanoid robot that was able to do all of things would certainly qualify as being intelligent. But there are many other types of machines, some of which exists today and are working in the field, that qualify as being intelligent, even though it is a different type of intelligence than what most humans are used to (or would acknowledge as such).

This observation raises another issue that is noticeably lacking in this book, as well as in the history of artificial intelligence in general. This issue involves the adoption of a quantitative definition of machine intelligence that will allow its measurement. If one is to judge the progress in artificial intelligence, it is necessary to define criteria, possibly informal, for assessing to what degree one machine is more intelligent or of higher quality than another. The criteria must also be able to distinguish an intelligent from a non-intelligent machine. The Turing test is not entirely suitable as a criterion, since it emphasizes, somewhat myopically and exclusively, human intelligence as being the most objective measure.

After careful study of the history of artificial intelligence, in this book and many others, as well as research papers, and through the development and practical use of `algorithms' that are deemed to be intelligent in some way, this reviewer arrived at an informal classification scheme for intelligent machines. Sometimes this scheme allows the quantitative measurement of machine intelligence, a `machine IQ' if you will, but usually it classifies machines according to what they can do, and to the degree that the machines require assistance from another machine (human or not).

For example, one could label a machine `Type-1' if it is an ordinary calculating machine, unable to learn or check its answers, or unaware of its environment. Type-1 machines are uninteresting from the standpoint of artificial intelligence research. A `Type-2' machine can find answers to domain-specific problems and check these answers according to standards given to it from another machine. Type-2 machines essentially need `tutors' or some kind of assistance to evaluate or continue learning. The chess playing machines described in this book, such as Deep Blue and Deep Thought, could be classified as Type-2 machines. The Pinkerton music-creating machine is also Type-2 as are the rule-based music-creating machines discussed in the book.

`Type-3' machines are able to check their answers to domain-specific problems and make judgments as to the quality of these answers, and do independently of any external standards. The Samuel checkers playing machine and the NeuroGammon and TD-Gammon backgammon playing machines described in this book could be classified as Type-3 machines, as would the `metagame' machines that can learn how to play a game given only the rules. Also Type-3 is the bridge-playing COBRA machine, and the Poki poker-playing machine, the Thaler Creativity Machine, the BRUTUS storytelling machine, all of which are discussed in the book.

A `Type-4' machine is one that is able to judge the quality of its answers to domain-specific problems and then propose theories or explanations that subsume these problems. Type-4 machines are thus machines that one could use to conduct scientific research for example. The EMI music-making machine discussed in the book is a Type-4 machine, due to its ability to analyze the structure of the music presented to it, and then extract the composer's style from it. Type-4 machines have been used in automated drug discovery, although this use is not discussed in this book.

Next are the `Type-5' machines, which are able to solve problems in more than one domain, but with their interest in solving these problems is instigated by an external inquirer, i.e. they do not possess any innate curiosity. The `commonsense reasoning' machines of Cycorp, Inc, which are discussed in the book, are examples of Type-5 machines. It is their ability to solve problems in more than one domain that makes Type-5 machines of great interest to many in the artificial intelligence community. Many in fact do not believe a machine is truly intelligent unless it can think in more than one domain.

A `Type-6' machine can express curiosity and creativity, can solve problems without any external instigation, and can develop theories or explanations around these problems. The author discusses several types of machines in the book that could be classified as Type-6, if one omitted the ability to find solutions without being instigated by an external machine or human.

Lastly, there are `Type-7' machines, which can self-manage and self-replicate, and are also Type-6. Self-replication is discussed in the book, but there are no machines to date that are Type-7.

Describing the Current State of the Art in Robotics.......2006-01-17

It's been about 50 years since the word Artificial Intelligence was coined. Since then there have been a number of television shows and movies about AI, but in real life AI has yet to produce a young boy to life an even quasi-normal life.

Behind the scenes however, research has been going on to develop the sub-systems needed as a foundation of AI. In this book the author describes what's going on in computers about such critical areas as vision, speech, taste, smell and so on.

The big problem, and what's covered in most of the book are what you might call the thinking components. How do computers think? How do they play games such as chess? Or one of the hot new items, play soccer. Then there are real problems like getting the computer to write fiction? Can a computer be programmed to transpose bits and bytes into thought, or love?

There have been a number of books lately on robotic activities you can do at home. This one is a description of the state of the art in the research labs around the world.

Virtual Art: From Illusion to Immersion (Leonardo Books)

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A Virtual Review of: Virtual Art: From Illusion to Immersion
Image Science
Virtual Art by Grau
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Virtual Art: From Illusion to Immersion (Leonardo Books)
Oliver Grau
Manufacturer: The MIT Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0262572230

Book Description

Although many people view virtual reality as a totally new phenomenon, it has its foundations in an unrecognized history of immersive images. Indeed, the search for illusionary visual space can be traced back to antiquity. In this book, Oliver Grau shows how virtual art fits into the art history of illusion and immersion. He describes the metamorphosis of the concepts of art and the image and relates those concepts to interactive art, interface design, agents, telepresence, and image evolution. Grau retells art history as media history, helping us to understand the phenomenon of virtual reality beyond the hype.

Grau shows how each epoch used the technical means available to produce maximum illusion. He discusses frescoes such as those in the Villa dei Misteri in Pompeii and the gardens of the Villa Livia near Primaporta, Renaissance and Baroque illusion spaces, and panoramas, which were the most developed form of illusion achieved through traditional methods of painting and the mass image medium before film. Through a detailed analysis of perhaps the most important German panorama, Anton von Werner's 1883 The Battle of Sedan, Grau shows how immersion produced emotional responses. He traces immersive cinema through Cinerama, Sensorama, Expanded Cinema, 3-D, Omnimax and IMAX, and the head mounted display with its military origins. He also examines those characteristics of virtual reality that distinguish it from earlier forms of illusionary art. His analysis draws on the work of contemporary artists and groups ART+COM, Maurice Benayoun, Charlotte Davies, Monika Fleischmann, Ken Goldberg, Agnes Hegedues, Eduardo Kac, Knowbotic Research, Laurent Mignonneau, Michael Naimark, Simon Penny, Daniela Plewe, Paul Sermon, Jeffrey Shaw, Karl Sims, Christa Sommerer, and Wolfgang Strauss. Grau offers not just a history of illusionary space but also a theoretical framework for analyzing its phenomenologies, functions, and strategies throughout history and into the future.

Customer Reviews:

A Virtual Review of: Virtual Art: From Illusion to Immersion.......2005-04-07

The unique approach to handing the history of `virtual art' is scholarly and innovative, undermining popular conceptions of the notion of `virtuality'. I would have appreciated colour plates, since the subject matter often pertains to the study of many forms of visual art. A glossary of terms also would have been helpful. The addition of these to elements would make the book much more accessible to readers who are introducing themselves to these concepts and artworks.

Broad in breadth and depth, Virtual Art: From Illusion to Immersion traces the history of virtual art through studying the history of `immersion' and `illusion' in the arts, and relates these ideas to the current developments in `virtual reality'. It is unlikely that the general public, or even most arts professionals, would consider the panoramic frescoes of ancient Pompeii a precursor to the 1980's notion of goggled cybernetic digitalia, nor the recent developments in transgenic art, yet this book includes very convincing arguments that link these ideas to the development of today's virtual art. Self-proclaimed as the `first' to link art history and immersive visual culture to the field of contemporary digital environment-based art experiences, this innovative and convincing research is laid out before the reader in an intellectual, yet accessible fashion, complete with diagrams and illustrations to illuminate key ideas. Many interesting works of art are chronicled here, placed within a contextual framework that demonstrates the significance of the ideas and technology supporting the works. Gathering this information in a print format also allows these works to live on and influence other thinkers outside of directly experiencing the works, which is often not technically possible, given the temporal nature of many immersion-based artworks. Ideas do not develop in a vacuum, but through the dialogues of overlapping discourses, combined with critical thought. Grau demonstrates that virtual art is not exactly new, and it satisfies a basic human desire for experiencing the `other', whether through looking at panoramic paintings of mythology or faraway lands, or designing a prototype Holodeck (Star Trek). Unexpected parallels abound, making this a very informative read that may forever change the reader's interpretations of classical art history as well as of virtual reality.

It is likely that Grau reaches the academic arts audience he sets out to reach with this book, as is demonstrated by the numerous references to this book online, in various journals, blogs, and academic websites. This focus on art history as media history would be thoroughly appreciated by Marshall McLuhan fans, as well as art historians who specialize in media studies. Artists and historians interested in 3-D modeling, avatar development, online immersive environments, transgenic art, and historical instances of illusion in the arts will also find this book a valuable and up-to-date resource. This book would make a welcome addition to a University library, a gallery or artist-run centre's library, or the personal collection of savvy technophiles.

Image Science.......2003-10-21

This book is a outstanding contribution to the upcoming new field image science.

Virtual Art by Grau.......2003-10-08

This book is an excellent rendition for electro-visual labs.
The work is perfect if you are looking for new ideas on interior
decorating for the home. There are many exotic art forms
depicted in this work.

Virtual reality is integrated into art immersion. The work
provides a panoramic view of the Battle of Sedan. There are
pictures of the Futurama in the 1939 World Fair. In addition,
a screenshot portrays the Home of the Brain. The work is
excellent for anticipated student school projects.
This work is perfect for art enthusiasts, historians,
interior decorators, architects , photographers and a whole
host of professionals in varied fields.

Key Book.......2003-01-23

WIRED spoke about a "great read" and Lev Manovich decribed Grau's book as a "must-read for anyone interested in new media, art history, and any field using virtual images." - Grau lives up to expectations ! He analyzes what is new in media art by balancing recent works and historic media development, and so retells art history as media history. An interdisciplinary study in art history, media history, and new media art, the cross fertilization enriches his analysis and helps clarify the essence of immersion and Virtual Reality. Beyond Grau's analysis, I was thankful to see so many artists involved - many hot names. This book will be valuable for both practitioners and theoreticians. Hopefully there will be a paperback soon for students.

Performing Science and the Virtual: Performing Science and the Virtual

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Performing Science and the Virtual: Performing Science and the Virtual
Sue-Ellen Case
Manufacturer: Routledge
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0415414393

Visionary Architecture: From Babylon to Virtual Reality (Architecture & Design)

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Visionary Architecture: From Babylon to Virtual Reality (Architecture & Design)
Christian W. Thomsen
Manufacturer: Prestel
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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