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Folks,

Jens, Dux:

One day, just beyond the most distant horizon of or present ability to imagine, hardware will be redundant. It will all happen within the ever expandable, never obsolete theater of our minds.

The Theater of the Mind
By: JRT
HWH and HWH Cont.
Page 12 5/21/02

Preface:

Entertainment like many other things of today's world is so individually subjective. If you have read a book and go to see it translated upon the big silver screen, you may find the film version to be less than you had imagined. A film adaptation is subject to the whims and vision of the director, producers, art director, screenwriter and finally the editors. Only rarely (there are two recent exceptions) are the author’s or the public’s pre-conceived notions regarding the appearance or the plot of the film seriously considered. TV, the other visual medium, is much the same.

No author, no matter how talented he or she is, can or should always paint a perfect photographic panorama of the world he creates. Some do try to do this. I am reminded of J. F. Cooper’s classic works (The Deerslayer etc.) where he even describes the labels on the shelves. No, much simply has to be intuitively filled in by the reader. This he or she can only do according to his or her own subjective knowledge and experiences. Only radio and a good book rely so heavily upon the rich imagination of the listener or the reader to flesh out much of what is actually going on.

This makes you a silent partner with the author of the story. At the end much of what you remember was furnished entirely by your mind’s eye. It is a highly personalized experience no one can ever hope to translate to film.

IMHO, that is why, for me at least, reading a good book or story will not be easily replaced any time soon. Having said that, here is one way I think that another medium might one day be able to take us several steps beyond the so far unsurpassed enjoyment of a good read here on "HWH".

The Theater of the Mind

At this precise moment, secreted in an Alpine laboratory, sparing no expense, Steven Spielberg and Bill Gates (or someone like them) have hundreds of well paid and highly skilled German, Japanese & American scientists developing brand new, beyond state-of-the-art, family oriented theatrical entertainment equipment that includes some mind boggling VR story telling and gaming apparatus just for us. Here is what you might one day experience.

Your soft, blue-jean covered butt effortlessly sinks into an incredibly comfortable, body conforming seat that has been pre-warmed to perfectly match your own body temperature. You are seated inside a round, dimly lit, half-capsule made of an unknown (to you) metallic substance. A soundproofing curtain of ultra-thin, iridescent material slowly surrounds the capsule. What illumination there is seems to be filtering down from somewhere above you. Music is playing softly but try as you might, you cannot tell from where it comes. Your legs below the knees feel a bit chilly.

You are suddenly aware that a beautifully robed technician has entered quietly from somewhere beside you. She greets you with a nod and a perfect smile. You begin to relax. The attractive young woman begins to efficiently perform her well-practiced duties. Leaning down, she reaches across you so that you cannot help but notice the faint odor of a pleasant perfume. She places small, golden electrodes into your ears and thin, translucent cuffs lined with pliable foam rubber are clamped down softly upon your outstretched wrists and around you ankles. Opening your shirt for her you watch as she places another electrode over your heart. This is just a precaution and nothing to worry you. Another pair of golden electrodes are fitted over precisely measured spots on your temples.

You are not alarmed. You've been here before...many times before. In fact, statistics show that you probably come here again, and again, several times each week. A puff of softly scented air envelops the little room and you hardly feel the sensation of sitting in your chair anymore. No longer do you notice a chill on your legs.

The room completely darkens as the robed technician disappears somewhere behind you and all sounds totally drift away. A thin, titanium hood is slowly lowered across your closing eyes. Suddenly, all reality and disbelief is suspended. This is the theater of the future and at this precise moment you begin to experience entertainment so real, so life-like, that you can actually sustain a coronary.

And folks, it is so real because it all begins to unfold not upon a big silver screen but instead, within the tiny, intimate universe between your little pink ears. You should look for it (but not real soon). It will be coming to a theater near you.