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It is often assumed that the problem with 'virtual reality' -- the concept, its various technological deployments and the apparently oxymoronic phrase itself -- has been our understanding, or perhaps misunderstanding, of the virtual. The real problem, however, is not with the virtual; it is with the real itself. This article investigates the undeniably useful but ultimately mistaken and somewhat misguided concept of the real that has been routinely operationalized in investigations of new media technology. The specific point of contact for the examination is the avatar. What is at issue here is not the complicated structures and articulations of avatar identity but the assumed 'real thing' that is said to be its ultimate cause and referent. In addressing this subject, the article considers three theories of the real, extending from Platonism to the recent innovations of Slavoj Žižek, and investigates their effect on our understanding of computer-generated experience and social interaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article employs the conceptual opposition of the red and blue pill that is presented in The Matrix trilogy as a mechanism for investigating the philosophical antagonisms and structural conflicts commonly associated with the 'information society'. The text is divided into two main parts: The first reconsiders the logical structure of this pharmacological dialectic, arguing that the choice between these two alternatives originates in the history of western thought and demonstrating how this binary arrangement organizes not just science fiction narratives but our understanding of social reality. The second part reconsiders the choice of the red pill. It critiques the assumed value of 'true reality' that is expressed in the cinematic narrative and suggests alternative ways to think outside the box of this rather limited binary structure. The objective of such an undertaking is not simply to question the philosophical assumptions of what has been defined as the 'right choice' but to learn, through such questioning, to intervene in and undermine its very system. The article, therefore, suggests an alternative method by which to challenge and critique the established network of conceptual oppositions that goes beyond mere revolution and the other familiar strategies of social change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents an essay expounding on the philosophical dialectic within the film "The Matrix," centering upon the question of facing good and evil within the constructions of virtual reality. The moral imperative to pursue truth, regardless of the personal comfort of delusion, is particularly highlighted.

This article seeks to reconsider how traditional notions of ethics—ethics that privilege reason, truth meaning, and a fixed conception of “the human” —are upended by digital technology, cybernetics, and virtual reality. We argue that prevailing ethical systems are incompatible with the way technology refigures the concepts and practices of identify, meaning, truth, and finally, communication. The article examines how both ethics and technology repurpose the liberal humanist subject even as they render such a subject untenable. Such an impasse reformats the questions the question of ethics by introducing questions of radical alterity, making it possible for new ethical systems to emerge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the technology and possibilities of virtual reality. Analysis on conceptual history of image production in mediated communication; Placement of discussions of virtual reality within the traditions of image production; Proposals for alternative visions of virtual reality and computer simulation.