Boomeranged Metaphors
Van MensvoortAt the start of the digital era, metaphors from everyday life were used – in what was then the new computer environment …
We use metaphors to introduce unfamiliar technologies: the horseless carriage, the electric candle. Analogies place novel developments within existing structures of meanings and relationships. For digital natives, the online realms may become more familiar than aspects of the ‘real’ world. Warfare is like a first-person shooter, New York is one of many Sim Cities, and peer groups are best understood in terms of how they relate on Facebook. When analogies are transferred from the virtual to the physical world, the traditional flow of meaning is reversed. The metaphor has boomeranged.
Staff Picks
‘Are the advanced ranking systems found in Internet forums perhaps also applicable to the democratic voting process? Can I select a new avatar for myself at the plastic surgeon’s office?’
First Person Shooter Disease
Duke Nukem's disease is a scary one. Gene brings you the story of the life of a First Person Shooter.
Playing Dreams
Rolf CoppensJayne Gackenbach, a professor of psychology and sociology at Grant MacEwan College, Canada has completed research which …
Digital Trashcan in a Physical Office
Van MensvoortThe Swedish design group Front brings the principle of the digital computerdesktop trashcan back to the physical world. …
Avatarian Graveyard
Van MensvoortAvatarian Graveyard supplies a service for virtual addicts – people who excessively or compulsively spend time in …