Introduction
Over the last few decades the media environment has evolved drastically to unprecedented levels. The evolution has virtually changed everything from the way we interact and the functioning of the entire societies. Besides it has facilitated the emergence of a whole new form of communication called the virtual environment. Jenkins (2006) observes that the new communication technologies have given consumers an upper hand in control of information into their homes. He feels that the new found empowerment has enabled the consumer not just to be a passive consumer of the media content but to be an active participant by manipulating the media to suit his own interest. In addition, he has choice of what content to access, how and when to access it. The advent of the GPS systems, mobile phones and the virtue communities such as Twitter, facebook and MySpace in addition to the expansive gaming industry and the online advertising has drastically transformed the way we interact. People are now able to create their own media content and share it with others. Jenkins (2006) adds that the mass media for instance had the effect of transforming us from being cultural producers to cultural consumers. The psychological divide between the consumer and the producer has been narrowed.
Technology has also made access of entertainment in a virtue environment with simulation sofa real world or an imaginary world. This has further has really changed the face of entertainment industry by increasing people’s autonomy of their world of entertainment. The invention has also created a revolution in training of military personnel and pilots. It is not a surprise that people are finding it fun to interact primarily with machines especially computers and play stations. The world can now create their own form of reality which they adapt to suit different objectives in nature.
New technology, media and virtual reality
The new technologies in the, market have facilitated the development of social, economic and cultural forums which are strategically designed to address various issues. Social wise, social networking sites like MySpace, Twitter and face book among others have taken social away from the passive approach to an active approach which is largely participatory. We are living in a hyper interconnected world characterized by cultural transformations and globalization guided by the introduction of new technologies (Youth Culture and New Technologies, 2005). They have enabled both multicultural and cross geographical interaction. Young (2006) observes that social networking is a revolutionary form of digital networking brought about the advent of internet.
Virtue reality is a term that was coined to define the kind of technology that enables us to visualize and interact within a computer simulated environment. Virtual reality is an artificially created environment that is brought out in manner that leads the consumer to perceive it as a real environment (Virtual reality, 2008). The software created environment can be either imaginary or real. The most commonly used environments are mainly visual displays on computers or stereoscopic displays. However some are integrated with sight and sound through speakers or head phones. The simplest forms are presented in form of 3D images often displayed on personal computers while complex ones come in form of large wrap around display screens whose viewing is facilitated by haptic devices. Gaming has also been boosted by the entry of highly immersive, visual 3D environments.
Much of the virtue reality is directed towards simulation of the real world for training and education purpose and also for the creation of an imaginary environment for gaming and interactive stories. With the invention of BOOM and CAVE (as shown in the figure above) devices that replaced the relatively cumbersome head mounted displays, experience of the virtue reality has become more interesting to the consumers.
The use of data gloves and head mounted displays (as shown in the figure above), joysticks and hand held wands have made it easier and fun navigating through the virtue reality environment and made possible interaction between the consumer and the virtue objects as Beier (2000) observes.
Media is defined as any channels that can be utilized to transfer or store data or information. These means include but not limited to the internet, broadcast, cell phones and the print media. All these form an interface between the producer and the consumer content. However the current technological changes in the media industry have made it increasingly difficult to give a clear demarcation between the producer and the consumer. For example the advent of mobile phones, internet and social networking sites made it possible for people to produce their own content ad share it with others without the need of complex technology. People have thus become part of the media and play an active role in its development.
Analysis
Virtual reality today is presented in the form of movies, video games, digital media and networking sites. Technological revolution in this industry is changing daily in terms of content and the technology of display. This is radically changing the media experience and also interpersonal interactions which are slowly being invaded by interaction between people and machines along with its related technology. People are thus increasingly sourcing out their entertainment from machines which is rapidly enhancing their independence. This transformation is quickly transforming the people’s cultural practices, attitudes and societal trends replacing the traditional ones with the media culture. The digital media is thus bringing convergence of the world cultures.
The impact of the new media to the society
The media in the present times produces both extraordinary and dreadful effects as Sauza (2009) comments. The new communications technologies give consumers the control over the flow of media into their house holds. New avenues of entertainment which include computer and video games rely on our ability to engage them. Social networking sites and the bloging cultures have bridged the divide between the consumer and producer. People are thus becoming a part of the media experiences whereby they can create and share their own media content with others. The entry of mass media displaced the participatory aspect of the traditional media culture to active involvement. Furthermore the ability to share media content has helped to motivate media advocacy activities and social awareness resulting in increased public expression.
Media technologies have emerged as the most effective means of networking in any given society. The interconnections created by the communication infrastructure have helped to rapidly relay information over long distances from a single source. Any given player in the industry can easily circulate their ideas to a larger community hence facilitating the process of idea generation and transfer. Along with it is the increased ability to choose your target audience and to block others from your content.
Along the growing benefits of media today is the globalization of the media content. The global media cuts across the international borders hence enabling people to interact with others at the international arena. This has had the effect of changing our mindsets in tandem with the current trends and to adopt a global perception of the rest of the world. The global cultural exchange is enabling the nations of the world to foster unity through fusion of shared ideas amidst the wide ranging cultural diversities.
New technology has also created an efficient interface where the designer can freely interact and communicate with his customers. This allows feedback and hence ensures that customer’s tastes and needs are captured in the product design. It also eases the design process in that both the designer and the consumer are all involved in the final package. Through advertisements, the design is able to influence the consumption behavior of consumers and also their lifestyles. On their part, consumer’s response to the advertisement assists the producer in determining the efficiency of the advertisement in achieving his intended goals and objectives
The media has had its share of weaknesses in that it has led to a development of a generational gap between the young and the old. While throughout history ideas, norms and cultural practices were passed from one generation to another in a culturally defined way. The younger generation are now sourcing much of their knowledge from the media most of which conflicts with the cultural values and practices of their parent’s generation. Research points out that the young people and adults are increasingly living in different media environments. There disparity in the mode of access and use media technologies is widening along with contradictions in the interpretations of their media experiences. The two groups seem to be moving world apart in terms of understanding each other.
Different levels of access to media technology and content is causing inequality across the globe. Participation in the media industry seems to be giving rise to a new source of power, wealth, and knowledge causing gross inequality. Those with a higher access seem to have a higher leverage and privilege over others in the society. The great variation in resource places the less economically privileged at a disadvantage hence created a source of discord among the two groups. The growing expansion of access to cyberspace poses a potential threat of empowering a particular section of the public to become greater players in cultural and civic life. With the current determined attempt to displace the social and political institutions online, we run the risk of disempowering the disadvantaged global citizens.
New media has also played a key role in blurring reality in the sense that there no longer exist a clear divide between reality and fiction. Consumers find themselves entangled in a myriad of confusion as they try to define what is real and what is not due to the emergence huge amount of fictional material. High definition material, stunts and the 3D concept along with virtue reality content leave the curious consumers at a loss in trying to separate the real from unreal. When consumers watch characters in movies, citicoms and also when reading fictional material they tend to imagined tat what they are experiencing is true which is far from reality. Worse still is the formation of attitudes and behavioral trends especially with the youthful consumers. The negative part of it is that has created deception in media consumption.
The new media is also emerging out as a wheal of change in political, cultural or social change as Gavin (2007) writes. Broadcast media, Blog spots and social networking sites are creating new forums where people meet to discuss various aspects of life including political matters. Political, human rights and environmental activists are making use of these sites to address various issues affecting humanity. Mobilization of peoples support towards a particular course has thus been made easy thus emphasizing the importance and the role of media as a tool of change. This has increased the ability to influence people’s opinions globally. The success of the media to achieve this is mainly enhanced by their high ability to set agenda.
Impact to designer
Just like with consumers, media has adversely affected the designer in almost equal measure. The new media has made it easier to produce designs especially with the advent of CAD design soft wares, the computer, high speed processors and other platforms that has made there work easy. The evolving design environment has inspired designers to produce to produce high definitional complex designs that were either impossible or too expensive to produce a few years ago. Designers have also been empowered in their ability to undo tasks. Problems in design can easily be corrected using the latest technologies. For example, negative publicity which damages a company’s image can be reversed through aggressive advertisements and product re -branding. This is only made possible by tools of the media.
Another aspect of the design that is changing dramatically is the increasing reliance on new technology. Modern design works rely heavily on the new technology as opposed to its predecessor which relied on people’s creativity to create design manually. By relying on this technology, he is losing his traditional clout in design creativity. However his ability to manipulate and explore new heights in design works is getting enhanced so much that he is able to create very complex designs using the current technologies. This is usually the case with the world of virtual reality which depends heavily on the latest technological inventions especially in the computer industry. The concept calls for high speed processors and complex visual display devices. On the other hand, information gathering has been made easier through the emergence of citizen reporters who gather first hand valid and reliable news information and secondary data which they post it through such media as the You tube. This has greatly aided the designers or producers in the production of digital content.
Hyper reality theory
Hyper reality is the inability of to tell between the real and the abstract. Virtue reality has the effect of distorting reality sop that people lose their ability to distinguish between the real and the unreal. The hyperrealists argue that those who are exposed for along time to certain experiences tend to judge other experiences from the perspective of earlier experiences (Wisegeek, n.d.) Their interpretation of later experiences is largely based on earlier experiences. For example, long consumption of modern soap operas causes some people to adapt an alienated view of the reality. They tend to interpret their interpersonal relationships based on the superficial and often abstract meanings given by the producers of the soaps. With the increasing influence of the media content, internet, video games and the virtue world more and more people are sliding into hyper reality. People are adapting the characters of their role models or idols led by the belief that they can become like them. This presents a potential threat of displaced reality in that most of these models are abstract and are a bare creation of the media producers. It wouldn’t come as a surprise today for example to see some young people behaving like the character of Spiderman while others pose as Michael Jackson. The media industry has largely exploited this to their advantage by depicting popular celebrities as consumers of their products. In a bid to become like them, consumers respond by embracing these products.
Magritte (2003) argues that the actual boundary between the real and the hyper real lies in the fact that the real has already been produced while the hyper real has not. Many consumers of product such as the fictional content and the simulated content of virtual reality material do not realize this. This causes a cognitive gap in consuming and understanding their media experiences. However one could rule out the potential harm of the hyper reality by reasoning out that many of the consumers of this content are seeking ways of escaping from the same reality and therefore their objectives are met. Sometimes peoples indulgence into media inspired form of entertainment is informed by their desire to run away from stress and stress causing environment. Their major occupation is to shut out the realities of the outside world a solution that is readily provided by the abstract world of hyper reality. In this aspect, consumption is voluntary and in full knowledge of the consumer hence consists of no amount of deception. Such people are not just seeking out for entertainment avenues but an escape route from the reality. Therefore producers of the digital content should wake up to the reality that people are not always after entertainment and information from the types of media they access but also a means of running away from their daily challenges. Thus fictional material and hyper reality content will welcome news to their ears.
Conclusion
The new media and the new world of design have evolved great transformation in world in terms of the way we interact and experience the media. The dramatically changing communication technology can not be divorced from the development of media. The highly efficient systems of the modern media have brought about rapid creation and sharing of social, political and cultural content across the globe hence bringing about the convergence of the global cultures. Quarries and response about the quality, accuracy and reliability of information on dissemination of the content are quickly addressed thus forging consumer- producer unity in production of the digital content (Impact of New Media Technologies to Current journalism Practices, 2009).
The adverse effects of media on the consumers can not be wished away and potential conflicts should be addressed before disseminating any new information to the public. Authorities world over should embark on infrastructural improvement and installation to ensure equitable access to digital content so as to avoid the new centers of power that are emerging as a result of skewed access to the media content. This will also render a level platform for technological innovation thus creating job opportunities and improving the quality of media.
Reference
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Magritte, Rene. 2003. “The Human Condition” Web.
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What is Hyperreality. n.d. 2009. Web.
Young, Robert. 2006 “Social Networks are the New Media”, 2009. Web.
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