| How should this ontogenetic information be organised? Perhaps in terms of answers to certain basic questions. Just as a Virtual World should be navigable, so an Avatar should be questionable (can anyone help me find a less ambiguous word?). We have already got a glimpse of this. The CD-ROM to accompany the movie Rob Roy contains interviews with Michael Caton-Jones, the Director, Liam Neeson, who plays Rob Roy, Jessica Lang, who plays his wife Mary, and various other members of the film crew and cast. The questions were posed, of course, on behalf of the user, who simply clicks on the question to get the answer. The answer is, of course, a pre-canned QuickTime movie of the interviewee from the videotape made during the interview on the set. Occasional relief from the talking-heads is provided by various clips illustrating what the interviewee is saying.
Some recent CD-ROMs could be considered as first tentative steps towards the Avatars of the various people we might like to meet in Virtual Worlds. A CD-ROM focussing on the work of Marshall McLuhan contains a couple of his books, a QuickTime movie of a speech he gave, commentaries on him by various experts, and so on. Another CD-ROM focussing on the work of Marvin Minsky contains his Society of Mind book. Since those we built this CD-ROM had the distinct advantage that their subject was alive, they could have Marvin pop up with comments on the book and even conduct a tour of his living-room. Out-of-work philosophy and literature students will no doubt produce such CD-ROMs around the work of their favourite philosophers and authors. They would have the advantage that their subject is long dead. Thus they can include all their work since it is in the public domain. We already have CD-ROMs containing the Complete Works of William Shakespeare, of Sherlock Holmes, and vast compilations of classical literature. Thus, we will be able to hang out with dead guys, either by inviting them home on CD-ROMs (or DVDs for those who have more to say) or by going out to meet them on the Internet.
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