2. 1. A virtual space created by global computer networks
2. Made up of binary figures
3. Exists in various forms
4. Volatile
5. A portal of human communication
“ consensual hallucination
”
GIBSON, W. (1984)
what is CYBERSPACE?
3. properties of
CYBERSPACE
1. Consists of many domains
2. They are constantly changing
3. No physicality
ASYNCHRONOUS:
PARTICIPANTS COMMUNICATE IN VARIOUS TIME
EMAIL
SYNCHRONOUS:
PARTICIPANTS COMMUNICATE AT THE SAME TIME
CHAT ROOMS
is it possible to map something
that isn’t tangible?
4. “ to be in the virtual world is to
have an intrinsically geographic
experience, as virtual worlds are
experienced fundamentally as
”
places
TAYLOR, J. (1997)
The emerging geographies of virtual worlds. The Geographical Review 87, 172–92
5. what is a
map?
classify, represent and communicate
spatial relations
continuous and arranged space
cyberspace has
no geographic referent
8. does our cultural understanding of mapping
limit the way we imagine space?
cartesian grids
coordinate systems
invention of the compass
perspective
9. issues with
CYBERSPACE
spatialising immaterial information is
challenging to map
due to it’s complexity and
mutability
maps require the areas they represent to be
continuous and arranged
cyberspace is
DISCONTINUOUS
13. cyber cartographers
ENCOUNTER SEVERAL CHALLENGES
1. Constructing dynamic maps of cyber spatiality when some spaces don’t have
explicit spatial relationships
2. There are no agreed upon conventions to how each area within cyberspace is
expressed.
3. Cyberspace is not limited to three dimensions
* it is a virtual space created by global computer networks that connect people, computers and documents* it is also made up of countless binary figures.exists in various forms: web-pages, chat rooms, bulletin boards, virtual spaces, databases etc.,cyberspace is volatile: it can appear and disappear in a moment, it has no weight and is often constructed in mostly visual spaces.Cyberspace feeds into one of the most essential human needs: communicationGibson defines it as a consensual hallucination; in that it’s a transient space that is cultural shaped and understood as something that exists without physicality. We understand that there is a sense of time and travelling, say for example when you send and receive an email, so how do we visualise this space we’ve created?
The issue with what Taylor says is what I mentioned before: cyberspace has no geographical referent. Though we attribute names like ‘home’, address, forum, domains and use verbs such as ‘surf’, ‘enter’, ‘build’, these are merely metaphorical domains that mimic actions we use in everyday life.Cyberspace consists of many domains, each one with it’s own structure and formSpatial geometries of cyberspace are completely produced, they are transient landscapes that are ever changing. No physicality. Everyone is each other’s neighbour, everywhere is local.There is an increasing want to map places that can’t be seen, eg. Distant galaxies, DNA and brain neurone communication
maps are graphic tools that classify, represent and communicate spatial relations. What cyber-cartographers attempt to do is translate information and connections into a map of cyberspace, which has no geographic referent. Space is continuous and arranged, with a map being it’s presentation. However, cyberspace is discontinuous and often the spaces are also their maps. Eg. Web-pages are the area but also the means we use to move around this area.----- Meeting Notes (27/09/12 23:37) -----
It’s often said that our cultural developments are what has shaped the way we map spaces. We rely on cartesian grids, maths and geometry to map 2d and 3d spaces. A great example is TRON. It’s imagery is heavily based on maths and the cartesian grid. These are the conventions that we developed to apply to spaces.
The issue with mapping cyberspace is that the space is transient. It’s volatile, with each form structured differently.
A network topology is useful because it shows the linkages of a network including hardware and software. However this mode of representation only shows infrastructure and connectivity, not the flow or content of information. Traffic counters are a great measure of how many visits a space has had or how people are ‘surfing’ that space at that very moment. There is a dwindling interest in depicting distance in cyberspace, since it is geographically relevant. A good example of this is the CityRail map
There is a dwindling interest in depicting distance in cyberspace, since it is geographically relevant. A good example of this is the CityRail map. Similarly, it is not distance which is important in mapping cyberspace, but it's links and structures, so mapped locations are relative, not absolute.
The Opte Project was started by Barrett Lyon that seeks to make an accurate representation of the extent of the internet, using open source code. It is used as a gauge of growth of the internet. One of the issues with this sort of mapping is that it isn’t in real time. It’s a snapshot of connections on the Internet which immediately becomes the past as soon as this data is collected. It is important, if we are to delve into a semantic web, to be able to map cyberspace in real time.
1. the construction of dynamic maps and the presentation of spatiality of cyberspaces with some of them having no explicit spatial relationships.2. there are no agreed upon conventions for how a space is designed or expressed, hence there is a diverse set of spaces that differ in form, geometry and rules of interaction. Furthermore the scale of the environment is relative to the user or designer and can be altered at will. Each space is only constrained by the specifications of the user.3. Cyberspace is not limited to 3d, since any dimension might unfold into another and another and so on into a multi dimensional collection of spatial environments.
Glass if Life is a flash application designed by interactive media artist, Joshua Davis. Its similar to wefeelfine in that it collects all mentions of glass in a beautiful visualisation. It shows the connectivity between things found on the internet pertaining to glass.
