Jump to Reality
A Visit Beyond and Inside Belantis
[ This article blends virtual and real worlds. If you’re not yet familiar with immersive, interactive environments, take the opportunity to explore The Wrong Biennale 2025/2026 — The AI LAND ]
Shall we risk it? Shall we really leave the safe world and risk it? Some voices echo. We shall make a backup first. Let’s see what Tripadvisor says. I like the voice of DJ Substance: “I am in when Art goes also.” And many more are taking the floor. I am addressed. I have to say something — something with depth. So I say: “Life exists only when there is death.”
Not everyone likes to hear this. But there is a group that re-posts my words, so they go viral. The Boredom Group.
And now we are here, in reality: Belantis Park. Never heard of Belantis? You know Atlantis, and you know Atlantis is gone. There is a saying that Atlantis still exists and can be visited. For this, you need to travel to Santorini holding the Hitchhiker’s Guide to Atlantis in hand. The story goes Beyond Atlantis.
When you page through the book, you find the words of Ervare, the old man knowing. That Afrikaans, that Old Egypt — that’s the Gods of Informatics. In other words, that’s the WebMetaversum. Real or not? I will not be tricked and surely don’t want to fall into the rabbit hole.
We made it to Belantis. That counts. But still, you might not know where this land is. I can show you pictures — tons of them. Reality seems to be overbooked. Long waiting lines for the rollercoaster, seemingly endless for the Great Wheel.
It just looks that way. The machines perform well. They suck them all in, in parallel rows. It is not like waiting at the bus station. The waiting experience is much better if you can say, “We are in the row that goes faster in.” Mother agrees as the weather is perfect. Less time for a McBreth. You know advertisement is never free, so why should I advertise the other Mc? The one with the “D.” Is there is The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, where they serve all the good stuff? We need to scan the land …
Reality can be much fun, but … there is a “but.”
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About the but
You are fixed on a rollercoaster. Will the belts hold? You are going on a high-speed accelerator.
Will the blades stay stable, or will you overshoot? Such doings in the Metaverse don’t have the same thrill. You trust in the code. The machine is bulletproof. The admin has chosen the engine wisely. Shall it be the Ubode physics engine or the Bullet one? You click on the sit ball and you sit. That the new worlds don’t have sit balls any longer might make some old guys feel sad, but the new generation mostly doesn’t even know them. Just for the couple walk you still need it. The walker is coded this way. It’s a strange vehicle if you press diagnostics. Maybe a fresh code will be needed?
There are signs in the Metaverse, big ones: Security comes first. Safe zone. Don’t drive without a helmet. You play the game. You take the helmet. You know it is just for the show. You are digital, so what? You may remember when P!nk cut the tree and sang “So what?”
But that was reality, right? Was it not? But that would be a different leg to stretch.
We are in the Metaverse. No matter where. Is it Wolf Territories, Craft World, OSgrid, Second Life, Active Worlds, Metablabla? You sit in front of the screen and your avatar steps on the rollercoaster. You sit, you click. The machine is starting. What a hell of a noise. You hear the engines warming up, the construction shaking from the vibration. Now the steady humming. Gosh, you feel reality! Your heartbeat slows down, but just for a moment, just for a moment. The passenger cabin moves slowly forward and back; it accelerates for the 360 spin, the hell-up move. You go into mouselook. You feel the tension. You are in. You are no longer in front of the screen. You have mouselook, right? You vomit.
The holder has crashed. You fall, you scream. You need a rescue operation. Is Art around? You are lucky he is.
It’s a trust fall.
You shake your head. That was too much. The Metaverse is not stable. You have suspected this for a long time. Region restart is not just that the cleaner takes over your flat and you go to the gym, have a coffee, or chat with Silver Angel, your best buddy — no, the world is on reset. Nothing might be the same when you come back. You just don’t remember. You think time is linear — you just became the digital copy of the other one — but there is this tiny thing: “Server restarted.” And for the techies: “Ctrl-Alt-G: God mode denied. Your attempt has been logged.”
This makes you think. Can reality be restarted? Well, you would not know if it had been. Maybe they just skip the information, “Region restarting in 120 seconds,” and they just do it. A good time would be when you sleep. But then Belantis is closed. Belantis is for the waking dream.
Belantis has such a restart. I guess the first in reality. You can come back for free, if you take the restarter package. They call it Season Pass — for Kings and Queens, but also for Knights and … yes, for you.
I could enter for free. I write for rez Magazine about immersive interactive Art. Well, Belantis is an immersive experience, “So What?” As a thank-you, I write a little for their press department. [ see my German blog ]
Two Snapchat influencers are with me, one of them my niece — both she and her friend got their tickets for free. She came from Down Under to visit the Cool-Kids-Town — an alias for the City of Leipzig, created by The New York Times. Just the McBeth is on me. Now you know where to find Belantis.
Well, after the snack, one ride I will risk with the Great Wheel. I am the author of it, “So what?”
I gave my Cessna pilot licence back some years ago, but what the hell would it help if a spoke of the Great Wheel broke? I would stall this or that way. So keep your fingers crossed when I go for reality.
See you soon … in the Metaverse. AI Land is waiting for the Grand Opening of The Wrong Biennale.
