Virtuoarchaeology

Virtuoarchaeology is a scientific field dedicated to the study of ancient virtual reality worlds and simulations. Among the associated activities include the study of their source code to decrypting and decompiling them to make them compatible with modern VR worlds - either through porting or through emulation.

Overview

Early VR worlds were much more simplistic and self-contained. These sorts of worlds are the easiest to restore as the older vertex-based geometry can be converted into the more modern atomic-based rendering with the aid of AI virtualization. However, some worlds with source code that was generated with AI are far less predictable and sometimes very dangerous. Runaway procedural algorithms can pose a threat to the greater VR network due to the possibility of viruses and file corruption. As such, highly trained experts known as cleaners are sent into these worlds to stabilize these algorithms.

A related, but distinct field is known as virtuobiology, or the study of life forms that were generated in virtual reality. The two fields heavily overlap as virtuobiological life forms (or VR life forms) are often discovered in the excavation of VR worlds. As such, the handling of older VR worlds must be done with care to minimize the risk of harming any sentient life that may have found a home within these worlds.

Organizations

Archaeology Guild

The Archaeology Guild is the leading practitioner of virtuoarchaeology. They have been delegated the responsibility by the Federation of Stellar Systems to take up the mantle of providing virtuoarchaeology licenses and digsite permits. Extensive academic preparation is required to become certified due to the inherent dangers of the field. The lowest tier of certification can be obtained with at least two semesters worth of progress towards a virtuoarchaeology degree.

Because guild members tend to be very expensive, some companies will often have their own in-house cleaners. The guild frowns upon this as many of those cleaners are not properly licensed. With the decline of the Federation since the end of the Virtual Wars, it has been difficult to enforce the validity of permits.