[ Golden Gater Online - September 18, 1997 ]
A dreadlocked, classical musician who says we will one day communicate through computers drew warm applause and laughter last Thursday in a lecture on imaginative technology.
A striking presence, Jaron Lanier, better known as "The Father of Virtual Reality" (a phrase that he coined), was the first in a month-long series of high-profile speakers to kick off the NTT New Media Minds Forum "Intelligence, Technology and ARTificial Society: Who or what are we becoming?"
"The purpose of the forum is to present to the community people who are really the thinkers and creators of technology," said Linda Schaffer, Media Relations Coordinator for the SF State Downtown Center.
"If we treat computers as conduits between imagination rather than as things that are real in their own right," Lanier said, speaking before a packed forum at Yerba Buena Gardens, "then the new art will be born."
For that to happen, Lanier says, we need to modulate our sometimes paranoid relationship with computers by understanding that it is us who is in control, not the computer. All too often we seem to think the computer is the intelligent one and not ourselves.
"The computer is something we created, and it's up to us to use it how we want to," said Lanier, co-founder of VPL Research, the first VR company which brought VR component interface gloves and VR networking to the forefront.
Lanier is confident that we will eventually succeed in overcoming any technological phobias we may have and make our relationship with the computer a positive one. According to Lanier, it is our generation that is writing the constitution of the future, as the creation of the Internet has already proven.
"It is the first time in history millions of Americans have cooperated together without force," Lanier said. "That's an amazing thing."
One of the most prominent pioneers in technology, Lanier is currently the lead scientist in the National Tele-immersion Initiative. He has been instrumental in helping create a variety of other technologies, including the first moving camera virtual set for television production, and the first performance animation for 3D graphics. He was also the first to propose the web-based network for computers.
According to Schaffer, the entire series is going to be multiple perspectives on technology, with each speaker having a different view. The next forum on Thursday, Sept. 25, at 7:30 p.m. is "A Cyber - Feminine Perspective" and will feature four female speakers, including Soledad O'Brien from "The Site." The forum will explore the dynamics of how digital technology has changed our notions of identity and gender, and will discuss how women are taking control in the field.
Future forums will include a lecture from former pop musician Thomas Dolby Robertson ("She Blinded Me With Science"), who has since gone on to create the first audio-based virtual reality installation at the Guggenheim Museum.
The event launches the SF State-produced New Media Institute, whose mission is to bring a better understanding to how new media affects our society and culture.
For more information, contact Linda Schaffer at 904-7782, or call the NMI hotline at 904-7740, or log on the MSP Web site at http://msp.sfsu.edu.
[ Golden Gater - September 18, 1997 ]