There are so many things happening around us and each encounter and action all entail complex intricacies and details. When reading the chapter, I realized that I’ve never really took the time to analyze and break down some of the technological advancements we see and use everyday. The chapter documents numerous advancements and the ingenuity that goes behind each of them. I loved the example of Zork and how it was similar to the game Dungeons and Dragons. Prior to reading this, I would’ve just described Zork as something that is cool and fun, and I would not have analyzed the game and understood its concept. Whether or not a technology was additive or expressive or whether or not something falls under a digital environment are concepts and questions I have yet to ponder.
In regards to this, VR fulfills the property of a digital environment being spatial. VR perfectly embodies this property in that it’s an entirely new world or reality. One is able to fully immerse himself/herself in a different space and navigate across the environment. One also has agency in this world and is able to have various experiences. In the example of Zork, the book tells a story of a character walking into a dungeon that “someone is sealing shut behind you.” This experience could be further amplified in a virtual reality where one’s senses can fully immerse in the situation. There is a power of navigation that exists in virtual reality.