Virtual reality and sonic cyberspaces: augmentation, hybridisation and abstraction

While some researchers have described virtual reality (VR) in terms of digital replication of the physical world, others have claimed that the true power of cyberspace lies in the expansion and hybridisation of the physical elements and their parameters. The pioneers of VR envisioned it as implementation of abstracted laws and ideas. This paper details three VR types in connection to three music-making modes in the sonic cyberspace, using physical modelling techniques to describe the digital expansion, hybridisation and abstraction of sound producing mechanisms and interactions. This paper supports its claims with historical departures, theoretical summaries and compositional examples.