The arrangement of the books appearing on the display is never the same, nor is the way the user moves through the various areas of the library. The book is the hitherto most radical interface for the design of virtual worlds.
All the other machines Man may attach himself to, at present reflect only their own functionality, or let a bored mind enter into sophisticated redundant loops: Brain Machines. They appear as pale specters of a phantasmagorical reading.
On the surface of the imaginary library some copies of books most unusual, most out of the way are realized in a hypertextual program, books that would not be readable in the traditional linear paper book shape.
Regardless of numerous helpy functions, journey aids and guided tours through the labyrinth of the library, the user whom we prefer to call "Voyager" - will not get very far without a minimum of phantasy, reading lust or spirit of adventure.
Reading and thinking can unfold into different directions within the multi-dimensional space of this imaginary library: From each point within the widespread ramifications of the library one may get to higher or lower floors, move on both horizontally and vertically. Within this determined indetermination of wandering, it is not excluded that the reader may get lost, or it is rather desired in some instances.
The imaginary library is no fund of catalogued books. It offers the travelling reader a topography of interesting reading paths, supports him in his daring excursions, producing a cartography of the findings retrieved. If worn out with fatigue, the voyagers are animated, entertained by interviews and poetical puns on words.
Through a special line, interaction with the "agents" of the books is possible: An imaginary theatre of remembrances, where the voyagers communicate with antique and modern authors. This interlocution achieves the quality of a spoken speech.
The authors of the books, however, are not important as authorities or trademarks. They rather must be imagined as labels, as notes printed or scribbled and attached to certain expressions or phrases. With the entrance into the imaginary library, the area of protected Copyright is left.
The imaginary library presents itself as a virtual reading machine which - if not entangled in a dialogue with the reader - starts a combinatorial continuous speech.
