The next Rembrandt

Virtual artifacts in digital environments


Humans have expanded the existing environment to the virtual domain. Virtual artifacts can be seen as an essential cultural phenomenon in modern society. Virtual artifacts bear meanings and functions and since they are part of the world they affect real world events and people’s lives.

Virtual artifacts have certain similarities to real-life artifacts even though they do not have physical properties in the traditional sense. Simulated virtual objects (photorealistic VA) and environments have a model in the real world; however, depending on the context, an abstract virtual artifact isn’t necessarily dependent on the laws of physics or causality.

Some virtual artifacts are purely abstract in their nature, therefore they can't model real-life objects or phenomena. For example, computer programs or digital user interfaces, while often containing representative components of real-life objects, can't exist in physical terms. These virtual artifacts do not have to be comprehensible to humans at all; they can be created and understood solely by artificial intelligence.

Virtual artifacts can have physical properties (for example color, length) depending on the environment they exist in. These physical properties can be presented and perceived using a certain medium such as a computer screen. On the other hand, virtual artifacts can also contain properties that aren’t perceptible. Due to their immaterial nature they can be flexibly accessed, reproduced and archived — even simultaneously by multiple users.