New Media Art - History – Scott Fisher

“The possibilities of virtual realities, it appears, are as limitless as the possibilities of reality. They can provide a human interface that disappears- a doorway to other worlds.�

                                              Scott Fisher

Scott Fisher is a scientist and a media artist, a producer and a director, whose work focuses primarily on immersive environments and technologies of presence. Fisher states that in general he has been “interested in how we perceive the relationship of objects in space and if we can develop an awareness of depth in time as we perceive and understand depth in space� (2004, Ito).

His interests and research include the fields of Interactive Art and Media Technology, Immersive Virtual Environments and Technologies of Presence, Mobile Multimedia and Location-Based Service and Stereoscopic Imaging. Indeed he is a very prominent and important figure in both the development of new media technologies such as Virtual Reality as well as the disillusion of boundaries between technology and art and the continuing development of Multimedia Art (2004, ITO).

Fisher attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he held a research fellowship at the prestigious Centre for Advanced Visual Studies between the years of 1974 and 1976. Fisher’s research interests are focused primarily in stereoscopic imaging, immersive display environments, and the development of interactive art installations and media technology for representing ‘first-person’ sensory experience.

Virtual Reality first captured the imagination of the public in the late 1980’s. Indeed although the field of Virtual Reality was first pioneered by Ivan Sutherland it was Scott Fisher who completed the first virtual reality system that combined computer graphics, stereoscopic video imaging, 3D sound, the head mounted display, and the data glove (2004, O’Reilly Media).

From 1985-1990 Fisher founded and directed the Virtual Environment Workstation Project at NASA’s Ames Research Center. In his work at NASA Fisher set out to develop an interface that could engage all the senses, submerging the viewer into a state of full sensory immersion. Indeed the Virtual Environment Workstation Project was responsible for the development of the goggle glove system most commonly associated with the term Virtual Reality. In addition to this the project also pioneered and developed many other key Virtual Reality technologies. Fisher left NASA in 1990 to begin his own research and development company which he called Telepresence Research (Digi Arts, 2000).

Prior to working at NASA Fisher worked under another important figure in the development of new media and multimedia art Alan Kay at Atari Corporation’s Sunnyvale Research Laboratory. At Atari Fisher predominately focused on developing immersive video game and educational environments as well as continuing longer term research on the possible uses of HMDs (Head-Mounted Display) and first-person technologies (Digi Arts, 2000).

Much like Billy Kluver, Fisher has collaborated with several artists involved in immersive technologies. He has also taught numerous classes and seminars on Interactive media, Photography, and Stereoscopic Displays. In addition to this his own works have been exhibited in the US. Europe and Japan (O’Reilly Media, 2004).

Bibliography & Further Reading:

(1997) ‘Scott Fisher,’ Virtual Worlds beyond the Screen, [Online], Available: http://bmrc.berkeley.edu/VirtualWorlds/fisher.html [2004, October, 4].

(2000)‘Scott Fisher,’ Digi Arts – Unesco Knowledge Portal, [Online], Available: http://digitalarts.lcc.gatech.edu/unesco/vr/scientist/vr_s_sfihser.html [2004, October, 28].

(2004) ‘Scott Fisher – Telepresence 1985,’ O’Reilly Media, Inc. [Online], Available: http://conferences.oreillynet.com/cs/et2004/view/e_spkr/1743 [2004, October, 5].

(2004). ‘Extended Biography – Scott Fisher,’ [Online] Available: http://www.itofisher.com/sfisher/biography.html [2004, October, 1].

Fisher, S. & Packer, R. (2000) ‘Statement,’ Multimedia- From Wagner to Virtual Reality, [Online], Available: http://www.artmuseum.net/w2vr/archives/Fisher/Fisher.html [2004, October, 1].

Lauren Porter 12:26, 9 Sep 2004 (EST)

Lauren Porter 10:06, 29 Oct 2004 (EST)