Ong's Hat: The Beginning
About this audiobook
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“…a bizarre Internet phenomenon: an “immersive” online experience—part mystery, part game, part who knows what—known as both the Incunabula Papers and Ong’s Hat. The Incunabula Papers/Ong’s Hat was, or is, a “many-threaded, open-ended interactive narrative” that ”weds an alternate history of chaos science and consciousness studies to conspiracy theories, parallel dimensions, and claims that computer-mediated environments can serve as magical tools…. the documents provoked a widespread “immersive legend-trip” in the late 1990s. Via Web forums, participants investigated the documents—manifestos—which spun up descriptions of brilliant but suppressed discoveries relating to paths that certain scientists had forged into alternate realities. Soon, those haunted dimensions existed in the minds and fantasies of Ong’s Hat’s many participants. That was evident as they responded to the original postings by uploading their own—all manner of reflections and artifacts: personal anecdotes, audio recordings, and videos—to augment what became “a really immersive world, and it was vast”.
About the author
As an inventor, creator, product manager, CEO, CTO, writer, and artist, I’ve contributed to establishing and promoting standards and practices like PDF, DVD, podcasting, ARGs, and digital video. I’ve designed apps for iPhone, iPad, and Android platforms [1] [2] [3] and authored screenplays, white papers, and books on technology, sci-fi, marketing, and gaming.
Since the mid-80s, I’ve staged and managed large-scale Alternate Reality Game (ARG)/transmedia projects using diverse media, including print, phone, email, video, film, and digital platforms. My work has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, LA Times, CNN, PBS, BBC, Audible Original (named the best of 2024), and many other outlets. (Links to articles available.)
My transmedia project Ong’s Hat is recognized in academia and the gaming industry as the first proto-ARG. It has been profiled in Games(TM), Slate,
I also co-founded the Greylodge Podcasting Company/GLOR, an independent media site covered by Wall Street Journal, MSNBC, Boing-Boing,
