The need for a socio-cultural perspective in the implementation of virtual environments

Abstract

For many researchers, virtual reality (VN) is first of all a technology. This vision is also well reflected in the growing research work concerned with virtual environments: most of it has been addressed primarily the development of new rendering technologies rather than the highly interactive and dynamic nature of user-system interaction that VR supports. However, this focus on technology is disappointing for developers and researchers. To overcome this limitation, this paper describes VR as an advanced communication too[: a communication interface in single-user VR, and a communication medium in the case of multi-user VR. This leads us to propose a cultural concept of presence as a social construction. Lying at the base of this view are two elements that guarantee an elevated sense of presence: a cultural framework and the possibility of negotiation, both of actions and of their meaning. Within this view, experiencing presence and telepresence does not depend so much on the faithfulness of the reproduction of 'physical' aspects of 'external reality' as on the capacity of simulation to produce a context in which social actors may communicate and cooperate. The consequences of this approach for the design and the development of VR systems are presented.The first author is responsible for the preparation of Section 3. The second author prepared Section 2. Introduction and Conclusions were prepared by both authors. Moreover, to both authors must be attributed the definition of contents and the final structure of the paper.

Virtual Reality in Psychotherapy: Review

“…51 Bricken 52 identifies the core characteristic of VR in the inclusive relationship between the participant and the virtual environment, where direct experience of the immersive environment constitutes communication. According to this position, VR can be considered as the leading edge of a general evolution of present communication interfaces such as television, computer, and telephone, 53,54 whose ultimate goal is the full immersion of the human sensorimotor channels into a vivid and global communication experience. 55 This position better clarifies the actual role of VR in psychotherapy and the common link between the different clinical applications presented: VR is an advanced communication interface based on interactive 3D visualization, able to collect and integrate different inputs and data sets in a single real-like experience.…”

Defining Cultural Agents for Virtual Heritage Environments

“…While the term cultural was often mentioned in tandem with society (''Petit Mal seeks to raise as issues the social and cultural implications of 'Artificial Life'''), the paper neither defined them nor distinguished between them. Similarly, in presence research articles, culture is also often placed alongside society, or the terms are used interchangeably, but without clear distinctions or definitions (Riva, Castelnuovo, Gaggioli, & Mantovani, 2002;Riva & Mantovani, 2000).…”

Medical Applications of Virtual Environments

“…Developing this position, Bricken [15] identifies the core characteristic of VR in the inclusive relationship between the participant and the virtual environment, where direct experience of the immersive environment constitutes communication. According to this position, VR can be considered as the leading edge of a general evolution of present communication interfaces like television, computer and telephone [16,17]. The main characteristic of this evolution is the full immersion of the human sensorimotor channels into a vivid and global communication experience [18].…”