|
I'm surprised this article didn't mention Worlds(.)com or even Second Life. For those unaware, Worlds(.)com is an old virtual chat platform from 1995 that still exists today. I imagine it was a lot like VRChat back in the day in terms of its aesthetic and user experience, without the VR and with lower graphical fidelity. Its regulars today are, to put it lightly, very weird and sometimes unsettling people, but that's a topic for another time. Worlds stands out in that many of its worlds are user-generated and still exist decades after they stopped being used. Exploring Worlds feels like you're exploring virtual ruins, where users made the kinds of worlds they would spend time on after work with fellow users. You have virtual bars and clubs, virtual gardens, virtual BDSM dungeons, and even some secret areas. For example, there is a room only accessible by going behind a waterfall in another area, and it is a dark chamber with 2 floating roses in the middle, where Nights in White Satin plays. You get the sense someone made this for their partner. There is a "Hall of Fame" area with photos of the old users who spent time there, which prompted me to wonder how many of them were still alive. The reason I was reminded of Worlds, outside of the obvious connection to the subject matter, is because of the article's idea of virtual space as a mechanism to experiment with identity. Worlds to me feels like a living, breathing, almost archaeological example of autobiographical virtual architecture. |