Worlds in the Age of Digital Simulation

Abstract

Stemming from a traditional ontological divide, the field of digital media studies still distinguishes the digital experiences accessible via computers into two broad categories:

• The first is that of telepresence, a family of technologies that affords various degrees of agency and the exchange of information between users and actual environments that are not immediately present for them. The experiences and worlds made possible by teletechnologies and robotics are, therefore, qualified as telepresent. In other words, telepresence technology allows humans to establish aesthetic and interactive relationships with their world in ways that transcend their scale, their spatial location, and, often, their native biological capabilities. The Mars Exploration Rover that was sent to Mars by NASA in 2003 is an extreme example of the experiential extension afforded by telepresence. The rover extends and dislocates the cognitive and interactive capabilities of the NASA scientists both in space (they can observe and analyze chemical samples in a part of the universe that is several million miles away), and in time (the radio signal-based interactions between NASA and the rover have an average time delay of 20 minutes between inputting the controls for action and the perception of the results).