Rethinking virtual reality: Simulation and the deconstruction of the image
David J. Gunkel · Critical Studies in Media Communication · 2000
From its beginnings, virtual reality has been proposed as the apex of image production, completing, as many scholars and artists have argued, the search for the ultimate visual display medium. This essay examines the technology and possibilities of virtual reality by investigating these conceptual maneuvers that connect computer simulated environments to the history of mediated communication and the logic of representation. The essay examines the conceptual history of image production in mediated communication, locates contemporary discussions of virtual reality within this tradition, and offers a deconstructive critique of representation, proposing alternative visions of virtual reality and computer simulation.