Virtual Reality in Disclosure

This clip from the politically reactionary feature film Disclosure gives a glimpse of the limited imaginary of virtual reality in 1994. After donning a set of VR goggles and a data glove, Michael Douglas enters "The Corridor," a 3D visualization of a data repository, in order to investigate company records of mismanagement of a production line for high-speed CD ROM drives. Unlike the surfeit of VR feature films that would be released in 1995, Disclosure is unable to conjure an image of virtual reality that goes much beyond a 3D rendering of conventional 2D information: documents, video conferences, etc. To heighten the drama in this scene, a bizarre, wireframe 2D model of his sexual harasser, Demi Moore inexplicably looms in the background as she attempts to destroy the evidence Douglas is attempting to uncover.