Integrating the world of presence theory: Illusion, pretence, attending, and pretending

Abstract

We selected four fragments from the world of presence theory for particular attention. These are: presence as a perceptual illusion, as a pretence, as attending to an external world, and as pretending the virtual is real. We reflect on and try to unite these fragments into a fairly coherent and perhaps more general view of the nature of presence, one that may help integrate insights into both ‘natural’ and mediated presence. One conclusion from this work is that when we feel present, we believe that what is happening is real, in the moment, whether it is in the physical world or in a virtual reality (VR). In other words, when we feel really present in an environment it is real for us. If presence in VR is an illusion, so is presence in the physical world. Presence in VR requires imagination and belief (though not make-believe), and so does presence in the physical world.

I Know It Is Not Real (And That Matters) Media Awareness vs. Presence in a Parallel Processing Account of the VR Experience

“…Other scholars, too, noted this dualistic nature of the VR experience. We identify related ideas, for example, in Turner's (2016) argument that experiencing presence requires pretense, and in Waterworth and Tjostheim's (2021) argument that VR users believe what is happening is real, "except in the sense that at some level, (they) know the virtual reality is a simulation" (p. 23).…”

“…As a perceptual sensation, we think presence is an inevitable user response to any correctly calibrated VR system. Neither pretense nor a related suspension of disbelief (Wirth et al, 2007;Waterworth and Tjostheim, 2021) might be necessary to foster presence. For example, a proper VR system will always make human users feel spatially present.…”