The Layers of Presence: A Bio-cultural Approach to Understanding Presence in Natural and Mediated Environments

Abstract

This paper proposes a bio-cultural theory of presence based on four different positions related to the role and structure of presence, as follows. First, presence is a defining feature of self and it is related to the evolution of a key feature of any central nervous system: the embedding of sensory-referred properties into an internal functional space. Without the emergence of the sense of presence it is impossible for the nervous system to experience distal attribution: the referencing of our perception to an external space beyond the limits of the sensory organs themselves. Second, even if the experience of the sense of presence is a unitary feeling, conceptually it can be divided in three different layers, phylogenetically different and strictly related to the three levels of self identified by Damasio. In particular we can make conceptual distinctions between proto presence (self vs. non self), core presence (self vs. present external world), and extended presence (self relative to present external world). Third, given that each layer of presence solves a particular facet of the internal/external world separation, it is characterized by specific properties. Finally, in humans the sense of presence is a direct function of these three layers: the more they are integrated, the more we are present. In the experience of optimal presence, biologically and culturally determined cognitive processes are working in harmony--to focus all levels of the self on a significant situation in the external world, whether this is real or virtual.

5. Neural Mechanisms of Bodily Self-Consciousness and the Experience of Presence in Virtual Reality

“…As such, trying to understand the presence in virtual reality is similar to investigating the ability of the brain to integrate artificial perceptions into a coherent representation. As such, presence might better be described "as an immediate feeling produced by some fundamental evaluation by the brain of one's current circumstances" (Slater, 2009) or as the "neuropsychological phenomenon evolved from the interplay of our biological and cultural inheritance" (Riva, Waterworth, & Waterworth, 2004).…”

“…To explain with greater concision its separate experiential states, Riva and Waterworth described the presence in VR as a three-level hierarchical process (Riva, Waterworth & Waterworth, 2004); (i) the proto-presence, i.e., an embodied presence related to the level of perception-action coupling, (ii) the core presence emerging from conscious and selective activity in order to integrate sensory occurrences into coherent percepts, and (iii) the extended presence linking the current core-presence to the past experience in a way that challenges the significance of the lived experience. Riva and Waterworth's different levels of presence in VR closely correspond to the 'layers of the self' proposed by Damasio (1999), i.e., the proto-self (to which the proto-presence corresponds), the core-self (the core-presence in VR), and the autobiographical self (the extended presence in VR).…”

“…Riva and Waterworth's different levels of presence in VR closely correspond to the 'layers of the self' proposed by Damasio (1999), i.e., the proto-self (to which the proto-presence corresponds), the core-self (the core-presence in VR), and the autobiographical self (the extended presence in VR). To situate these levels of presence within the general picture of VR, Riva and Waterworth introduced additional dimensions of focus, locus, and sensus (Riva, Waterworth & Waterworth, 2004; see also Waterworth & Waterworth, 2001). "Focus can be seen as the degree to which the three layers of presence are integrated toward a particular situation" and is maximal "when the three levels are working in concert", i.e., proto, core, and extended presence are coherent.…”

Granularity in reciprocity

“…Making trade-offs is a collaborative learning process defined by an interaction between cultures and technologies available (IJsselsteijn 2004). From a neurobiological and evolutionary perspective, presence is essentially the strive for wellbeing and survival (Riva et al 2004). To have presence means to have the ability to steer towards one's own wellbeing and survival.…”

Flow Experience in Cyberspace: Current Studies and Perspectives

“…We can readily state it this way, because at the webpage "About Presence" (http://ispr.info) placed by the International Society for Presence Research, this term is explicated in twelve points, with several subpoints. A biocultural view on the multilayer evolution of presence in diverse environments, including the mediated ones, and particularly in cyberspace, has been introduced recently (Riva, Waterworth, & Waterworth, 2004).…”