presence

by MotionBrothers

(also known as: ‘telepresence’)
(see also: active presence, embodied presence, emotional presence, and social presence)

a feeling of being in and of the virtual world, and the ignoring of physical world distractions

It is the strong illusion of being in a place in spite of the sure knowledge that you are not there.1

1. Mel Slater. Place Illusion and Plausibility Can Lead to Realistic Behaviour in Immersive Virtual Environments Pg 5.

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embodied presence

by MotionBrothers

acknowledging the existence of your body within a virtual reality VR experience

In physical reality and first order virtual reality there is something very simple that you can do to physically establish your presence. Look down, and you will see your body, or see parts of it continuously in peripheral vision.1

1. Slater, M. “Place Illusion and Plausibility Can Lead to Realistic Behaviour in Immersive Virtual Environments”Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2009 Dec 12; 364(1535): 3549–3557 Pg 10.

room-scale

by MotionBrothers

a design paradigm that allows users to move freely within a room-sized environment while partaking in a virtual reality (VR) experience

Through the use of kinetic locomotion mechanics (in the Perambulation category), the experiencer’s physical movements are mirrored within the virtual world and helps to contribute to a greater sense of immersion, with the body being directly engaged – a key contributor to creating a state of embodied presence.

The term room-scale is often used to differentiate between other types of virtual reality experiences e.g. a self-contained environment of a VR room or seated or standing VR, in which the user remains stationary.

locomotion

by MotionBrothers

refers to the process of moving from one place to another

This is most commonly used to refer to movement within the virtual environment e.g. how an avatar navigates the virtual world, but can also refer to movement outside of the virtual environment e.g. how the experiencer navigates the real-world while in a virtual experience.

Locomotion mechanics in virtual reality can be broken down into three primary categories:
1. Perambulation
2. Teleportation
3. Transportation

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gesture

by MotionBrothers

a form of non-verbal communication through the body – typically the hands or head – that, when tracked by a motion sensing camera attached to a computer, can be interpreted as movement and mirrored in virtual reality

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Infographics

by MotionBrothers

Virtual Reality Infographics

Getting your head around the Metaverse and alternate realities isn’t an easy challenge so here are some simple infographics to help simplify the wonderful world or virtual reality.


The Reality Scale

The Reality Scale


The VR Experience Scale

Virtual Reality experiences can be mapped along 3 primary scales: Reality, Interaction, and Movement. (As defined by human interface design and innovation company Punchcut).

vr-experience-scales


The VR Immersion Scale

In their paper ‘A Grounded Investigation of Game Immersion’ Emily Brown and Paul Cairns define three phases of immersion and six barriers of entry.
The VR Immersion Scale


Virtual Reality Theories of Presence

In recent years there have been a number of attempts to describe how the state of presence is created in virtual reality.

The below graphic depicts two theories: Kent Bye’sElemental Theory of Presence‘, and the ‘Perceptual Theory of Presence’. The two theories have been anchored by Mel Slater’s two illusions of presence: place illusion (PI) and plausibility illusion (Psi)
Virtual Reality Theories of Presence


The Agency Scale

Agency‘ is the capacity of an entity (a person or other entity) to act in an artificial environment. It is a key contributor to enabling a state of presence in the experiencer.
The Agency Scale


Swayze effect

by MotionBrothers

(see also: ghost story)

the sensation of having no tangible relationship with your surroundings despite feeling embodied in the virtual world

The phrase was coined by Story Studio and the name is a reference to actor Patrick Swayze who played the protagonist in the 1990’s film Ghost. In the film, Swayze’s character dies and returns as a ghost to help his wife solve the mystery of his death. The effect observed by Story Studio, looks to describe the struggle of affecting a virtual environment and the people who occupy it when no observable feedback from the world is being received.

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plausibility illusion (Psi)

by MotionBrothers

the acceptance that the scenario being depicted is actually occurring

Another way of thinking of this illusion is as the automatic and rapid response from the experiencer to the important question: Is this really happening? If the response is ‘no’ then the illusion is broken.

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Experience Manager

by MotionBrothers

(also known as a ‘story generator’)

a generalisation of the ‘drama manager’ concept put forward by Joe Bates in Virtual reality, art, and entertainment. Originally published in Presence: The Journal of Tele-operators and Virtual Environments, Pg. 133–138, 1992.

an intelligent, omniscient, and disembodied agent that monitors the virtual world and intervenes to drive the narrative forward according to some model of quality of experience. Often used as a surrogate for the human author.1

1. Mark O. Riedl and Vadim Bulitko. Interactive Narrative: An Intelligent Systems Approach. AI Magazine Pg 3.

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