The old-fashioned mechanical forest was based on tested Christmas-tree technology. Evergreens, of course, have been realistically simulated for many years; high-quality deciduous trees required only a few small technological improvements, mostly in the area of leaf design.
The mechanical forest has mechanical birds -- not many, because (as in a real forest) you don't see most of the birds; you only hear them. A few birds and an array of speakers hidden in tree-trunks create the illusion that the woods teem with life.
For the same reason, the forest needs few mechanical animals. Those few forest-creatures are rapidly shifted from place to place in the forest using underground tunnels, through which they move much faster than normal animals.
Visitors to the mechanical forest are monitored, of course; so if you are looking for birds or animals, the forest control system recognizes that, and arranges to send some to your area.
A mechanical forest has specially-designed logs and twigs. You can gather them up and build a fire; roast marshmallows, sing songs, tell ghost stories; and go to sleep, letting the campfire burn all night, safely. Glowing artificial eyes lurk in the shadows, but never come near.
Mechanical forests are considerably more efficient than 'real' forests. They can be placed in or near large cities, where most of the wilderness demand is. They can be smaller than real woods, since they don't have to support a natural ecosystem. They require little maintenance; the mechanical creatures are very reliable, and artificial trees need no pruning. Best of all, such forests are easily movable; a forest-operator can tour like a circus, following demand, leaving a city when the populace has had enough Nature for a season.
Mechanical forests were very popular, but somewhat limited. For one thing, they only simulate one type of forest; if the forest operator misjudges the public mood and brings in a redwood forest when the people really want a South American rainforest, neither he nor they will be happy. Additionally, these forests are limited in size; customers find it disconcerting to hike to the edge of the woods and look out on the surrounding city or suburb.
Gradually, therefore, technological evolution created the Hypertext Virtual Forest. Virtual forests have high-speed data links to other virtual and mechanical forests, and also to pickups in real forests all over the world. Users of a virtual forest wear special glasses, which allow them to see and hear the forests connected by the data links. A client in a standard deciduous mechanical forest, therefore, can choose to 'visit' a rainforest, or sub-arctic taiga, or whatever kind of woodland he likes.
The forest goggles slightly warp the viewer's sense of direction, so that hikers march in loops through slightly varying terrain, never seeing the edge of the woods.
Hypertext features are built into the virtual forest gear. A user examining a leaf, for instance, can have the leaf automatically magnified to whatever level desired, and even have the parts of the leaf diagrammed and explained. Examination of the trees can lead to information about the animals and birds who use that tree as habitat, or to viewing similar types of trees or analogous trees from other forest types; similarly for other plants, and for birds and animals. These hypertext features have opened up a vast new educational market. Virtual forests have become wildly popular with science teachers on all levels for field trips, lab work, and examinations.
Technology marches on. Today's virtual forest environment includes new sensory apparatus -- touch-sensitive suits are now standard, and taste and smell capabilities are becoming common. Modern forest technology is so sensitive, in fact, that it isn't necessary to visit even a mechanical forest; a virtual forest suit and a sufficiently large room are all you need for an authentic woodland experience.
When the government notices a trend, (say the cynics) it is always eager to jump on it, to make sure of getting a cut; this explains (they continue) the legislation to create the National Information Superforest.
A vast network of Hypertext Virtual Forests already exists. A typical virtual forest has connections with others of its kind all over the world, as well as links to sensory pick-ups in 'natural' forests, and to vast databases of recorded sense-data. These links have always been somewhat chaotic; not every forest has access to the resources of all the others; some citizens lack forest access entirely; the libraries of forest life are largely untapped. The government sees an opportunity to make things more efficient through its support and regulation. Thus, the Data Superforest.
Certainly, the new regulations are slightly restrictive. Access to natural forests, for example, is now limited, to keep the pickups clear of human presence. It is very disturbing, after all, for a user to find the ghosts of 'real' hikers in his virtual forest. And, of course, the government requires some restrictions on woodland content; but this is to protect the citizens, especially impressionable youth.
The Superforest contains no dangerous animals, no poisonous plants or deadly fungi; nor do any of the plants or mushrooms have anything other than nutritional value. Nobody can deny that these content-rules make most people feel safer and happier in the nation's forests.
Some people, of course, don't like the Superforest, or the restrictions. They say that they miss the excitement, the sense of discovery, the unpredictability of the old-fashioned forest. In view of the immense popularity of the Superforest, however, it is hard to ascribe these criticisms to anything but political motivation. There are a few malcontents in every crowd. The Superforest is at least as good as the old kind. Most people can't tell the difference at all.
Copyright 1993 Edward Gaillard. All rights reserved.