The Ontological Reversal of Visual Representation—From Platonic Shadows, Visual Spectacles, to the Metaverse

人类在与世界交互的过程中产生了庞大的影像，根据影像生成的不同阶段可以将其分为现实影像、感知影像和想象影像。影像不断地堆叠固化为人类的集体意识，并借助于媒介技术的发展逐渐脱离现实转变为影像的世界。元宇宙时代的到来与影像脱虚向实的演变机制相契合，使得影像由化为现实、脱离现实到成为现实，长期作为现实附庸的影像获得真实的逆反。虚拟和真实的界限被打破，人类需要重新定义自身的存在形式和社会的发展形态。During the process of human interaction with the world, a vast array of visual representations has emerged. These can be categorized into three distinct types according to their generative stages: objective imagery (reflecting physical reality), perceptual imagery (mediated through human cognition), and imaginative imagery (constructed through mental abstraction). The continuous accumulation and solidification of these visual representations have gradually coalesced into collective human consciousness. With the advancement of media technologies, this imagery system has progressively transcended its original material foundations and evolved into an autonomous visual paradigm. The advent of the metaverse era synchronizes with the evolutionary mechanism of images transitioning from virtuality to actuality. This historical juncture witnesses imagery completing its ontological transformation - initially derived from reality, subsequently detached from reality, and ultimately attaining self-actualized reality. The traditionally subordinate status of imagery has thus achieved an authentic reversal of existential hierarchy. As the demarcation between virtuality and actuality becomes increasingly permeable, humanity is compelled to reconceptualize both the fundamental modes of existence and the developmental paradigms of societal organization.