Mark Pesce is Smarter than You
by Joyce Slaton
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Mark Pesce has had more influence on the Web than perhaps anyone in the world. His main claim to fame is VRML, a 3D interface to the Web which allows users to interact with a three-dimensional space, to move around in the space and interact with others. But VRML is only the beginning of what Pesce has accomplished. Pesce was fundamentally involved with the creation of cyberspace. Not only was his work at Shiva instrumental in creating the TCP/IP protocol which makes Web networking possible, but his voice has been heard all over the Web. His visionary and spiritual approach to networking and cyberspace community are legendary, and his energy and talent have been put to use in projects which rev up the community-building power of the Net.
Pesce took some time from his busy schedule to speak at the Be-In. "I'm here tonight primarily because Michael (Gosney, founder of the Digital Be-In) asked me, " he says self-effacingly, drawing one restless hand over his shaven head. "More people know me for my work in VRML or in community-building projects, but a concern for human rights is a theme running through a lot of my own work. "
The self-defined "bright boy" continues. "There's a real responsibility in creating cybespace. I don't want to be like Robert Oppenheimer and drop the bomb and then walk away from it. You don't want to use this amazing medium to abuse people. The Web has the potential to lie, to trick to misinform. It is the responsibility of all of us who inhabit cyberspace to watch out for others, to make sure that what we are creating has the potential for good as well as bad. "
Pesce is warming to his topic now, gesturing passionately and glaring over the top of his chunky wire-rimmed glasses with missionary zeal. "When people stumble into this new world they bring themselves. Cyberspace isn't evil, people are evil. Cyberspace is a mirror which we hold up to society and ourselves. The good is reflected, the bad is reflected, but the Web is still small enough and in flux enough so that we can take charge of its creation right now. "
Pesce, a practicing witch, uses the power of ritual to imbue the the creation of cyberspace with meaning. "When I put up a Web page the first thing I do is throw up an invocation. The Balinese have one day a year where they bless their tools. I believe one should do that for computers, with Web sites. Make your tools meaningful and it makes the act of creation meaningful. "
Pesce is even now involved with his own act of meaningful creation, a project called Blitcom which centers in Los Angeles. Pesce plans for Blitcom to become the "Fox network of cyberspace, " and hopes that the 3D cartoon characters they create will entertain, draw viewers and make them ready for more.
"The intent is to make the medium as creative as it can be, to raise the emotional bar on the Net. The Web can teach, can inform, can change lives, but first it has to entertain. No one will listen if the message the Web is ending is not entertaining. I want to make the Web laugh. "
When asked about the future of the Web, Pesce laughs light-heartedly and snorts. "What kind of time period are we talking here? Five years? OK, as ubiquitous as the dial tone is today, the Web will be tommorow. It will be the general interface for all we do, from making phone calls to running the microwave to keeping track of appointments. The Web will be the backbone of all our communications. The Web will be the background noise for all human knowledge. "
Visionary words from a man who has helped make the Web what it is today, and who will help shape its future.
