A History of XR Cross Reality Part 1 of 6
“The longer you can look back, the farther you can look forward.” ~Winston Churchill.
This the first of six articles describing a history of cross reality, otherwise known as mixed reality or XR, which encompasses the fields of virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and virtual worlds (VW). I have used the lens of science fiction as my time travel machine. This is not meant as an exhaustive history, as I purposely chose my timeline. Also in this effort, I engaged pattern-seeking from design research to sharpen my prediction skills.
These articles started with two recent research efforts: 1) an invitation to present on any topic at a local university and 2) a project to forecast the future of XR technology. As a result, I decided to craft a story, the history of XR.
When I went to find the origins of science fiction, my research indicated that I should start first with paleo futurism. Paleo futurism is the study of how, in the past, we envisioned the future. Said another way, we have guessed about the future before. How good are we at guessing? Once I did some research in paleo futurism, I found that I needed to look to utopian/dystopian literature as the origins of alternative realities in human thought.
That brings our time machine's first stop back to 380 B.C. and Plato’s Republic.
This is argued to be the first instance of humankind writing about an alternative reality for themselves. Plato focused this reality not on city planning or public education, but on the concept of justice. Plato pitted 4 different definitions of justice against each other to see how humanity fared. At least up until 1900, it is a very strong bet that the rest of our sci fi sources know of this foundation.
(Note: there may be non-Western roots of alternative realities that go further back than 380 B.C. My choice to start with Plato simply reflects a place where I was comfortable starting. Feel free to add comments below about realities based in other cultural systems. I'm open to learning more on this.
Our next stop is the early 1500s A.D. What was happening on Earth?
Columbus had made 2 journeys to the “New World” Undoubtedly, knowledge that new lands had been discovered was spreading across Europe. The slave trade had begun.
The Pacific Ocean had just been discovered.
Globalism is on the rise. Colonialism is not far behind.
In 1516, under King Henry the 8th, Brian Tuke was established as the first Master of the Posts, the progenitor of the Royal Mail.
In Germany, a law established that only water, barley, and hops are the allowed ingredients to make beer.
In China, the Nantan meteorite fell to Earth. The fall of this meteorite was eye-witnessed by a farmer in a field and it was a rare iron-nickel meteorite.
One of the final battles for the Holy Land was won by the Ottomans, establishing the Ottoman empire.
The Aztecs were in their post classical period. This image is from the Aztec sun stone, showing the belief in a cyclical calendar. We'll see cycles later as a key to prediction.
The first social housing was established in Bavaria—which still exists today. Originally to live here, you had to have been a city resident for the two prior years, have no source of income, and be a Catholic. Widowed mothers were the primary residents.
In Venice, the first Jewish ghetto was established by law.
In Florence, the first uffizi (office) was established for workers to come to on a daily basis to do their work for the first “corporation.”
Then, in 1516 Thomas More published Utopia, the progenitor of science fiction.
As I researched, I learned that the definition of utopia was not our current meaning of perfection or "Eden." Thomas More intended "Utopia" to mean "nowhere" or "a place that does not exist." The book was a commentary that both supported and criticized socialism. Utopia had a ruler for life but after he died, there is an election for a new ruler. There was shared work, food, clothing, land, etc. Punishment for crime, however, was severe. We would not recognize More’s concept of justice today. Residents dug away at a peninsular to form the island of Utopia. Interestingly, Utopia is not isolated for there are still ships to other nations.
The very next year after Utopia was published, Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the cathedral door and Canada was discovered via the St. Lawrence River. This was a world embroiled in change: new worlds, new religions, globalization, and yet segregation and slavery.
So we have our foundation of humans engaging with alternative realities.
Next: Part 2 1881 to 1909
#Quotes #WinstonChurchill #Reality #CrossReality #MixedReality #VirtualReality #AugmentedReality #VirtualWorlds #Design #Plato #Republic #Utopia #ThomasMore #1516 #Transmedia #XR #VR #AR #ARVRinEdu #EdTech #Innovation #Athens #Globalization #Change
This article was originally posted to LinkedIn on November 17, 2019.
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/history-xr-cross-reality-part-1-heather-dodds-ph-d-