cyberspace /si:'br-spays`/ n.
1. Notional `information-space' loaded with visual cues and
navigable with brain-computer interfaces called `cyberspace
decks'; a characteristic prop of cyberpunk SF. Serious efforts to construct
virtual reality
interfaces modeled explicitly on Gibsonian cyberspace are under
way, using more conventional devices such as glove sensors and
binocular TV headsets. Few hackers are prepared to deny outright
the possibility of a cyberspace someday evolving out of the
network (see the network). 2.
The Internet or Matrix (sense #2) as
a whole, considered as a crude cyberspace (sense 1). Although
this usage became widely popular in the mainstream press during
1994 when the Internet exploded into public awareness, it is
strongly deprecated among hackers because the Internet does not
meet the high, SF-inspired standards they have for true
cyberspace technology. Thus, this use of the term usually tags a
wannabee or outsider. Oppose meatspace. 3. Occasionally, the
metaphoric location of the mind of a person in hack mode. Some hackers report
experiencing strong eidetic imagery when in hack mode;
interestingly, independent reports from multiple sources suggest
that there are common features to the experience. In particular,
the dominant colors of this subjective `cyberspace' are often
gray and silver, and the imagery often involves constellations of
marching dots, elaborate shifting patterns of lines and angles,
or moire patterns.