The Tyranny of the Visual
The Tyranny of the Visual by Chris Crawford is about "the way in which visual thinking has come to dominate our thinking" -- not that visual communication is a bad thing, just that there are alternatives that aren't often explored, and that the visual representation of things is often too closely intertwined with their conceptualisation.
Crawford uses the example of navigating through a house with his eyes closed, using his other senses to visualise his surroundings (like Jim Blinn's definition of visualisation as understanding something and then creating a picture of it in your mind, only here "picture" is an embodiment, not necessarily visual). He then goes on to explain that our visual perception is merely perception, and not necessarily reality, or at least not a complete conceptual understanding of reality:
"When you gaze upon a scene, do you imagine that you are perceiving reality? I certainly don't. I imagine that I am perceiving a tiny fragment of reality, perceiving reality through the narrow window of the visual. I look at a tree and perceive so much more than a simple visual image. I imagine the fluids slowly creeping through its cambium, the photosynthesis taking place in its leaves, the absorption of nutrients from the soil — all these invisible processes that are central to the life of a tree. My eyes don't tell me much about the tree; there's so much more going on out of my view. Note that this perception of the tree is informed, indeed driven, by my education. Because I have read about biology and trees and physics, I bring to bear an understanding that allows me to see deeper inside the tree. My perception of the universe is an integration of my knowledge and my senses".
Crawford also makes reference to the scene in The Matrix where Neo reaches a state of enlightenment:
"It comes at the climax of the first Matrix film. Neo has returned from the dead and can now see the Matrix for what it is. He looks down the corridor at the three agents and sees not the corridor, but the code behind it. The image communicates the idea of seeing the processes behind reality rather than just the visual skin of reality. Isn't it odd that we need a visual representation of an idea that attempts to get around visual thinking?"
This example is relevant to my idea with regards to visualisation of game elements and mechanics -- the visual representation of a game is merely a "visual skin" for the underlying attributes and processes that define the gameplay. This is also in keeping with Will Wright's and Raph Koster's ideas of wrapping simulations and game patterns in metaphor.
As Crawford says, when talking about interactive storytelling, "what is important is the function of the system" -- the (visual) presentation scheme is arbitrary. He then gives the use of stages in drama as an example where "space is composed of individual stages with no spatial relationships whatever between stages", citing literary examples such as the journey of Huckleberry Finn. This reminded me of graphs (vertices connected by edges) and state transition diagrams.
He also suggests an exaggerated screenplay involving Cary Grant to illustrate his idea that spatial considerations and details are sometimes unnecessary: "Overpowered with passion, he walked over to her, seized her in his arms, moved his head directly in front of hers, rotated his head slightly to avoid a collision of noses, then closed the gap between her lips and his and kissed her frantically". A simpler version, "Overpowered with passion, he seized her in his arms and kissed her frantically", would have sufficed and let Cary Grant's acting ability fill in the (spatial/visual) blanks.
At the end of the article, Chris expresses his dismay that some people cannot get past the visual representation of things, and that "to them, reality is WYSIWRE: What You See Is What Really Exists", and "those of us who confine their thinking to the purely visual are narrowing their vision". This is seemingly true for the current state of game design, and was alluded to by Doug Church in State of Church. I think that videogames can be better defined and designed in terms of a separation of their visual (including spatial) representation from the actual underlying game elements and processes.
Crawford uses the example of navigating through a house with his eyes closed, using his other senses to visualise his surroundings (like Jim Blinn's definition of visualisation as understanding something and then creating a picture of it in your mind, only here "picture" is an embodiment, not necessarily visual). He then goes on to explain that our visual perception is merely perception, and not necessarily reality, or at least not a complete conceptual understanding of reality:
"When you gaze upon a scene, do you imagine that you are perceiving reality? I certainly don't. I imagine that I am perceiving a tiny fragment of reality, perceiving reality through the narrow window of the visual. I look at a tree and perceive so much more than a simple visual image. I imagine the fluids slowly creeping through its cambium, the photosynthesis taking place in its leaves, the absorption of nutrients from the soil — all these invisible processes that are central to the life of a tree. My eyes don't tell me much about the tree; there's so much more going on out of my view. Note that this perception of the tree is informed, indeed driven, by my education. Because I have read about biology and trees and physics, I bring to bear an understanding that allows me to see deeper inside the tree. My perception of the universe is an integration of my knowledge and my senses".
Crawford also makes reference to the scene in The Matrix where Neo reaches a state of enlightenment:
"It comes at the climax of the first Matrix film. Neo has returned from the dead and can now see the Matrix for what it is. He looks down the corridor at the three agents and sees not the corridor, but the code behind it. The image communicates the idea of seeing the processes behind reality rather than just the visual skin of reality. Isn't it odd that we need a visual representation of an idea that attempts to get around visual thinking?"
This example is relevant to my idea with regards to visualisation of game elements and mechanics -- the visual representation of a game is merely a "visual skin" for the underlying attributes and processes that define the gameplay. This is also in keeping with Will Wright's and Raph Koster's ideas of wrapping simulations and game patterns in metaphor.
As Crawford says, when talking about interactive storytelling, "what is important is the function of the system" -- the (visual) presentation scheme is arbitrary. He then gives the use of stages in drama as an example where "space is composed of individual stages with no spatial relationships whatever between stages", citing literary examples such as the journey of Huckleberry Finn. This reminded me of graphs (vertices connected by edges) and state transition diagrams.
He also suggests an exaggerated screenplay involving Cary Grant to illustrate his idea that spatial considerations and details are sometimes unnecessary: "Overpowered with passion, he walked over to her, seized her in his arms, moved his head directly in front of hers, rotated his head slightly to avoid a collision of noses, then closed the gap between her lips and his and kissed her frantically". A simpler version, "Overpowered with passion, he seized her in his arms and kissed her frantically", would have sufficed and let Cary Grant's acting ability fill in the (spatial/visual) blanks.
At the end of the article, Chris expresses his dismay that some people cannot get past the visual representation of things, and that "to them, reality is WYSIWRE: What You See Is What Really Exists", and "those of us who confine their thinking to the purely visual are narrowing their vision". This is seemingly true for the current state of game design, and was alluded to by Doug Church in State of Church. I think that videogames can be better defined and designed in terms of a separation of their visual (including spatial) representation from the actual underlying game elements and processes.
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