Human Bodies, Virtual Spaces

This book offers a corrective to the trend in virtual reality studies that overemphasizes the role of hardware technology and visual/auditory fidelity as the sole means of establishing users' sense of presence, and instead offers a more holistic, embodied, and human-focused means of understanding presence (through immersion, interactivity, and imagination) in virtual reality. The main questions tackled in this book address the role of the body in VR experiences, and how our bodies' navigation of these spaces influence users' sense of presence in such experiences.

Elizabeth Caravella is assistant professor of visual studies at York University, USA.

List of Tables About the Author Introduction: Why Study Presence in Virtual Reality Games? 1. Virtual Reality Through Time and Space 2. Dimensionality & Embodiment in Virtual Reality Games 3. Immersion & Presence in Rhythm Games 4. Interactivity & Procedural Rhetoric 5. Imagination, Affect, & Emotional Engagement Conclusion: Persuading Presence as a Recursive Process