(1) A metaphor for describing the non-physical terrain created by computer systems. Online systems, for example, create a cyberspace within which people can communicate with one another (via e-mail), do research, or simply window shop. Like physical space, cyberspace contains objects (files, mail messages, graphics, etc.) and different modes of transportation and delivery. Unlike real space, though, exploring cyberspace does not require any physical movement other than pressing keys on a keyboard or moving a mouse.
Some programs, particularly computer games, are designed to create a special cyberspace, one that resembles physical reality in some ways but defies it in others. In its extreme form, called virtual reality, users are presented with visual, auditory, and even tactile feedback that makes cyberspace feel real.
The term was coined by author William Gibson in his sci-fi novel Neuromancer (1984).
An Atlas of Cyberspaces Provides detailed graphical sketches from London's Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis of Cyberspace taken from a variety of mapping perspectives: conceptual, geographic, topology, info maps, info landscapes, ISP maps, and Web site maps.
