Speaker's Page: Michael Heim Educators' Track |
2pm - 2:30 PST
[10pm-10:30 GMT] Active Worlds Michael Heim ("ommm") will instigate a debate on the topic: Virtual Realism
Why should virtual schools have chalkboards? Do avatars
really need chairs? Why are we stuck with gravity and horizons in virtual
worlds? Why not let function stimulate fantasy? Virtual worlds should be
more fun than photo-realistic.
Michael Heim develops concepts for
cyberspace and virtual reality.
Wired magazine described Heim's
work as "a warm-hearted,
cool-headed meditation on computer
technology." Library Journal said,
"This is Marshall McLuhan with a
solid grounding in philosophy."
Heim's writings have been
translated into Japanese, Korean,
Hungarian, Polish, and German. His
books include Electric Language
(Yale University Press, 1987), The
Metaphysics of Virtual Reality
(Oxford University Press, 1993),
and Virtual Realism (Oxford
University Press, 1998).
Michael Heim has presented his
concepts in many venues including:
the Institute of Contemporary Arts
(ICA) in London, SIGGRAPH '95, the
Banff Centre for the Arts, the
PowerPlant Gallery in Toronto, the
Netherlands Institute for Design,
the Incident in Switzerland, the
Poynter Institute for Media
Studies, the Ringling School of
Design, UNESCO in Rio de Janeiro,
Princeton University, and the IIE
in Kyoto, Japan. During the spring
of 1997, Dr. Heim was Visiting
Research Professor in the Visual
Construction of Reality program at
the University of Copenhagen,
Denmark. He is currently on the
graduate faculty in Communication
& New Media at Art Center College
of Design in Pasadena, California,
where he teaches Virtual Worlds
Theory and Virtual Worlds Design.
Michael Heim received the Great
Teacher Award from the graduating
class in Computer Graphics and New
Media Design at Art Center in
1995.
Michael Heim holds a doctorate in
the philosophy of technology from
the Pennsylvania State University
in 1979 and also holds a Masters
Degree in Philosophy from Northern
Illinois University. He did
postdoctoral research for three
years abroad, first as a Fulbright
Scholar at the University of
Freiburg and then later as
President's Scholar at the
University of Berlin. His first
book was a translation into
English of Martin Heidegger's The
Metaphysical Foundations of Logic
(1984). Since 1986, Heim with his
wife lives in the city of Redondo
Beach in Los Angeles County where
he also directs the school of
martial arts he founded called Tai
Chi Redondo. |
© Copyright Contact Consortium 1998, all rights reserved
Contact our webster for comments on these pages
Pages produced by DigitalSpace Corporation and Consortium Volunteers.