cyberspace

Definition

Imaginary, intangible, virtual-reality realm where (in general) computer-communications and simulations and (in particular) internet activity takes place. The electronic equivalent of human psyche (the 'mindspace' where thinking and dreaming occur), cyberspace is the domain where objects are neither physical nor representations of the physical world, but are made up entirely of data manipulation and information. Canadian science-fiction writer William Gibson (1948-) who coined the term in his 1982 short story 'Burning Chrome,' describes it in his 1984 novel 'Neuromancer' as “consensual hallucination ... graphic-representation of data abstracted from every computer ... unthinkable complexity.”