Games & Virtual Geography

Dennou Coil is a show that focused on the coexistence between argument reality and the real world. The story follows a school girl named Yuko Okonogi who has just moved into an advance city. The city is constructed and interconnected with layer of cyberspace and is connected to the “net”. People who wear special type of glasses are allowed to interact with this layer of virtual reality such as owning cyber pets, making call and sending emails without dedicated hardware; every activity was done through body interaction. The story began with Yoko as she started her new life in the new technology centered city. The most intriguing aspect of this show is that it provided a reasonable perspective on what the future might hold for us and a logical way on how people might interact with a new technology such as argument virtual reality. In addition, the show outlined some of the advantages and disadvantages of this new technology. For example, the show explored some of the technological barriers and issues that plagued the new technology of virtual environment that is layered over the city. The advanced city was the only one of its kinds in terms of scale; there were a lot of bugs in the “cyber layer” that covered the city and these bugs needed to be fixed in order to ensure the system function as normal. Some of the bugs are caused by different version of the cyber space; the conflict between the different versions causes the virtual reality to be corrupted and distortions were found at various parts of the city. Therefore, the city employed “antivirus” softwares in the form of guardians called Satchi that patrolled the city streets and correct any bugs and defects in the virtual world. The instability and viability of the virtual environment is one of the many possible problems that we may encounter if argument reality becomes main stream in the future. Furthermore, the show explored the implication of having deep connection with the virtual world such as the problem of addiction to the virtual environment and withdrawal from the “real” world. This problem of withdraw was observed in the plot when one of her friend was in danger due to her dependence on the virtual world. Overall, Dennou Coil provided a great model and concept of a futuristic city with emphasis on virtual reality. The concerns and issue raised by the authors of the show is worth examine especially considering that with our rapid technological advancement, virtual reality may one day become possible and we may potentially face some of these issues and problems.