ROBERT
ROTHFARB | 3D VIRTUAL WORLDS
| CYBERSPACE READING
LIST
This is an evolving reading
and resource list about the art, technology, culture, and history of cyberspace.
Although virtual reality, as most people understand the term,
remains primarily in the realm of military and information simulation, we
are beginning to see elements of this new technology evident in the popular
culture of mass media including computer games, movies, music, and television.
The subject has been explored for decades, however, in fiction,
critical theory, and art, laying a groundwork for the evolution of a new medium
to form out of the existing communication age.
People have the tools now to build cyberspace. There are many possibilities. The term "cyberspace" was coined by William Gibson, one of the baseline authors of the cyberpunk genre of science fiction. His trilogy, including the novels "Neuromancer," "Count Zero," and "Mona Lisa Overdrive," are great works that offer action, mystery, and interesting characters whose reality includes detailed, networked, 3D digital spaces.
Please send me your suggestions for other works or resources on these subjects. I would appreciate it. Enjoy.
Robert Rothfarb
Fiction
| William Gibson | |||||
  Neuromancer |
  Count Zero |
  Mona Lisa Overdrive |
  Virtual Light |
  Idoru |
  Burning Chrome |
  The Difference Engine (with Bruce Sterling) |
  Pattern Recognition |
  Spook Country |
|||
| Bruce Sterling | |||||
  Mirrorshades |
The Difference Engine (with William Gibson |
||||
| Neal Stephenson | |||||
  Snow Crash |
  The Diamond Age |
||||
| Vernor Vinge | |||||
  True Names |
|||||
| Culture, History, and Critical Theory | |||||
  Cyberspace: First Steps Michael Benedikt, editor |
  TechnoCulture Constance Penley and Andrew Ross, editors |
  Computers as Theatre Brenda Laurel |
  Silicon Mirage: The Art and Science of Virtual Reality Steve Aukstakalnis and David Blatner |
  Virtual Worlds: A Journey in Hype and Hyperreality Benjamin Woolley |
  Virtual Reality Howard Rheingold |
  Resisting the Virtual Life: The Culture and Politics of Information James Brook and Iain A. Boal, editors |
  Synthetic Worlds: The Business and Culture of Online Games Edward Castronova |
  Avatars! Exploring and Building Virtual Worlds on the Internet Bruce Damer |
|||
| Production: Creating Digital Space | |||||
  Second Life: The Official Guide Michael Rymaszewski, Wagner James Au, Mark Wallace, Catherine Winters, Cory Ondrejka, Benjamin Batstone-Cunningham, Philip Rosedale |
  Creating Your World: The Official Guide to Advanced Content Creation for Second Life Aimee Weber, Kimberly Rufer-Bach, Richard Platel |
  The VRML 2.0 Handbook: Building Moving Worlds on the Web Jed Hartman, Josie Wernecke |
  VRML 2.0 Sourcebook Andrea L. Ames, David R. Nadeau, and John L. Moreland |
  Designing Digital Space: An Architect's Guide to Virtual Reality Daniela Bertol |
|
Extending Laws into Digital Space
Cyberspace and the
Law: Your Rights and Duties in the On-Line World
Edward A. Cavazos and Gavino Morin
MIT Press
Organizations
(Technology, Culture, History, Community, Policy)
Web3D Consortium
The Contact Consortium
ACM SIGGRAPH
Electronic Frontier Foundation
Commercial Virtual Reality & Web3D Information and Services
Web3D forum on About.com
VirtuWorlds 3D E-Zine and Virtual Worlds Portal
CyberEdge
Information Services (publishers of the CyberEdge Journal and VR industry
studies)
