Writer and political activist Paul Virilio makes a passionate critique of information technology and the global media. OPEN SKY is a call for revolt against the insidious manipulation of perception by the electronic media and the infantilism of cyberhype. Virilio pleads for a new ethics of perception and a new ecology, to protect not only the natural world, but also the urban community.

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Digital Mantras : 
The Languages of Abstract and Virtual Worlds
Steven R. Holtzman

A fascinating commentary on the integration of computers into the creative process. Drawing examples from the history of the use of structure in fields as diverse as the development of ancient languages, the philosophy of a Buddhist monk, the linguist Ferdinand de Saussure, the music of Arnold Schoenberg, and the grammar of Noam Chomsky, in conjunction with examples of the implementation of computers in recent creative work in language, music, art, and virtual reality, Holtzman presents a new philosophy of creativity in the digital age.

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Virtual Realism
Michael Heim

What's commonly described as "virtual reality" or "VR" is a pale imitation of the real thing according to Michael Heim. But the real thing, he declares, is fast approaching. We'll soon be able to totally immerse ourselves in detail-rich, highly interactive artificial worlds. This scares some, but Heim explores our ability to merge VR capabilities into the human experience in very positive ways--without falling prey to technological pollyannaism. Virtual Realism offers a fascinating exploration of the technological and artistic sides of VR and offers some exciting challenges to old assumptions about where nature ends and cyberspace begins.

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The Metaphysics of Virtual Reality
Michael Heim

As we begin to move in and out of a computer-generated world, Michael Heim asks, how will the way we perceive our world change? With a warm-hearted, cool-headed meditation on computer technology, Heim opens a window on a fascinating cosmos that promises--or threatens--to become everyday life in the 21st century.

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Escape Velocity : Cyberculture at the End of the Century
Mark Dery

Cyberculture Editor's Recommended Book
Take a walk among the subcultures of the online world: cyberpunks, technopagans, cyber-hippies and rogue technologists. Their mantra is William Gibson's cyberpunk maxim: "The street finds its own uses for things." By traveling through the little-known world of the online underground, Dery explores the technological future, reflecting on how we are "poised between technological rapture and social rupture, between Disney's Tomorrowland and Blade Runner." His book is scholarly in scope yet a page-turner. Here's a book for all those marketeers and CEOs who think the cyberworld is all about business -- surprise!

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Collective Intelligence : Mankind's Emerging World in Cyberspace
Pierre Levy

Cyberculture Editor's Recommended Book
Pierre Levy sees us as moving past an information economy into an economy based on human interactions; a social economy. While the idea may seem startling, given our current emphasis on all things monetary, his reasoning makes you stop and give careful thought to ideas you may not have considered before. As technology advances, Levy points out, it's capable of taking on more and more advanced tasks--first simple labor and now the processing of information. As these capabilities become easier and well within everyone's reach, their value declines.

But the one thing that is beyond the reach of pure technology is the construction and maintenance of social interactions. What technology can do, however, is make it easier for humans to interact over greater distances and around obstacles. "Our humanity," Levy writes, "is the most precious thing we have." Levy, who is a professor in the department of hypermedia at the University of Paris, then predicts that we will take greater control of that value and everything related to it as we use technology to organize ourselves into what he calls Living Cities. Here, physical location is less important than the interactions of its members, and not surprisingly, the lack of territorialities will challenge present methods of governance.

Levy insists we are in the early moments of an historical paradigm shift of the magnitude of the Renaissance. And yet he avoids wild utopianism, keeping a clear eye on the realities and challenges inherent in any great transformation, complete with ample opportunities for things to go wrong. What emerges, however, is a different way of viewing the possible future, and plenty of reasons for asking why this utopian vision isn't attainable.

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