Well, I would agree that technology is advancing to the
          point where simulations of unavailable experiences will soon
          be feasible. As a matter of fact, the entertainment industry
          is attending to these advances quite closely, and are
          creating amusement park/arcades with these attractions as we
          speak. I think they are being dubbed "realies" as opposed to
          movies. I guess its fine, and I have no doubt that museums
          will adopt this technology as it becomes practicable.
 
          I remain unconvinced by what I have read here that these
          experiences will have the depth of impact of actual objects.
          I'm sure that they will be popular, perhaps because they
          require so little of the participant. Going to museums will
          in fact be more like going to the movies, where meanings are
          created out of sight, and artifice is central to the
          presentation. I personally, and this is a strictly personal
          reaction, find that tremendously sad.
 
          Eric Siegel
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