The official definition of virtual is:
1.) Being in effect, though not actually
or
2.) Simulated by a computer.
One only has to look at the rapid progression in technology over the years to be able to imagine that connection to digital environments, social media, and virtual activities are becoming mainstream and will undoubtedly alter our future.
Tron original arcade video game.
Tron 3D movie remake - visuals meshing the actual and virtual.
What else can this mean though, and how can it be applied to architecture?
The virtual realm can also be a dreamscape or a memory. Architecture has the power to make us dream, imagine and evoke memory. With this power comes the ability to design illusion, trickery, and mind altering environments. An architecture could also become a sensory deprivator, allowing inhabitants to use their own imagination to fill space and use space as they need, rather than being directed by the designer. Can a building interpret our innner dialogue? Can it be capable of reading our thoughts and feelings and adjust istelf accordingly? Or could we able to instantly manipulate our environment through a human interface.
The Matrix - virtual weapons training - downloadable scenarios/spaces
Interacting with the virtual architect, which has no actual self, capable of creating the virtual world
Interesting video on virtual reflexive architecture:
One only has to look at the advances in technology over the last 20, 10, 5 years to realise that we are rapidly moving toward a world where we are able to interact with other individuals and perform a large variety of tasks within a virtual world. This leads me to believe that as this phenomenon continues to grow, the need for physical space and transport will reduce. Through this technology the city will then be a drastically different place. Humans will still need certain conditions to live such as food, water, air, sunlight, and physical contact to maintain a healthy body and mind. The question is then, what is the space/interface required to exist within a flexible and convenient virtual world? Is it a screen? A pair of "virtual goggles"? A portable space such as a suit? Or could it be a small room for individuals or a larger space for many people to exist within at once, such as a sports team?
Or could this virtual environment be experienced through goggles or a headset, take for example the "Virtusphere" - a new invention in videogaming, allowing users to physically mimic natural human movement within a hamster ball style of cage:
Are we able to move away from peripherals such as controllers, joysticks, light guns etc. Xbox has developed the Kinect - a motion sensing device that allows users to use their own body as the contoller. The device can recognise a user by their height, build, voice etc, enabling their ciustomisable virtual avatar to exist across multiple games/scenarios/virtual environments
Within this virtual world comes the opportunity for new architectural work.
In this video, David Wheeldon talks to renowned architect and designer Kevin Shopfer about the rising opportunities for design jobs in virtual environments such as Second Life:
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