I have to discuss this site as a concept because, sadly, I am neither in possession of an SGI workstation on which to run CLRmosaic and Polytrim (see the technology section of the Crossings site if you want to know [a little] more), nor have I visited the three 'realisations' of the project in Karlsruhe, Linz and Rotterdam. The resulting problem is that I have to rely on the 'flyer' type content of the Web site.

'Crossings' is fascinating because it is the first construction of a simulated three dimensional landscape to be shared on the Web. (This may seem rather ironic given the sentiment expressed in the first paragraph, but as with much of the new media it may be fairly safely assumed from experience of the last two decades that the technology will soon enable the average web surfer the experiences of a present day SGI workstation owner.) In other words this is the first appearance of a shared public access virtual environment since the concept appeared in William Gibson's seminal 'Neuromancer' and was developed in Neal Stephenson's 'Snowcrash'.

The immediate question that occurs when confronted with the impending arrival of an alternative reality is that of the moral implications of constructing a place which only those with access to a certain level of technology, and implicitly a certain level of wealth, may inhabit (the average web surfer is way ahead of the world average in these terms).

Of course this is already occuring in the 'real' world as detailed by Mike Davis in his fascinating history: 'City of Quartz, Excavating the Future in Los Angeles' (Vintage Press, 1990):

"The carefully manicured lawns of Los Angeles's Westside
sprout forests of ominous little signs warning: "Armed
Response!" Even richer neighbourhoods in the canyons and
hillsides isolate themselves behind walls guarded by gun-
toting private police and state-of-the-art electronic surveillance.

(Fortress L.A., p223)

"Building has begun on America's newest town. Celebration,
Florida, will be a planned community offering its residents
a sugar-spun vision of the all-American dream. Its
architects? Walt Disney....."

"It kind of goes without saying that the turnout for the
initial offerings at Celebration were very white affairs,"
said a local journalist..... As much as they like to say that
it will be representative of a typical American town, they
fail to mention that it's of the middle class, white
variety. Disney doesn't do subsidised housing."

(Real Life, Independent on Sunday, p4-5, 3.12.95)

"America, leader of the free world....."

(reporter on the 'Today' programme, 4.12.95)