:virtual reality: n. 1. Computer simulations that use 3-D graphics
and devices such as the Dataglove to allow the user to interact
with the simulation. See {cyberspace}. 2. A form of network
interaction incorporating aspects of role-playing games,
interactive theater, improvisational comedy, and `true confessions'
magazines. In a virtual reality forum (such as USENET's
alt.callahans newsgroup or the {MUD} experiments on Internet),
interaction between the participants is written like a shared novel
complete with scenery, `foreground characters' that may be
personae utterly unlike the people who write them, and common
`background characters' manipulable by all parties. The one
iron law is that you may not write irreversible changes to a
character without the consent of the person who `owns' it.
Otherwise anything goes. See {bamf}, {cyberspace}.
-- The AI Hackers Dictionary
