To what extent is virtual reality dependant on physical objects? An article (albeit and out of date one) discusses the missed out on “goggles and joystick” style virtual reality games of the mid 1990s, and a new sort of virtual reality “art” that some people at U of Illinois have thought up. The article doesn’t get into the philosophical considerations of the physical role of technological objects in our so-called virtual lives, but leads one to consider the phsical role of technology. Don Idhe (no link, you will have to find a physical copy to interact with) discusses the role of technology for humans, and the way that technological objects have influenced humankind’s interaction with the environment. If a technological object is something that enables increased activities thorugh its use, the activities enabled by our increasingly able technologies go through the roof. Or do they? Given the amount of power humans have derived from their technological dependance, how do virtual technoligies, that are not only acted upon but can act themselves (to an extent), alter that power structure?