Defining Virtual Reality: Dimensions Determining Telepresence

Transcription

1 ocial epone o communicaion echnologie c Defining Viual Realiy: Dimenion Deemining Telepeence Jonahan Seue Depamen of Communicaion, Sanfod Univeiy Cyboganic Media 67 Ramona Avenue San Fancico, CA USA [email protected] hp://www,cyboganic.com/ voice fax Ocobe 15, 1993 SRCT Pape #104 Thi pape oiginally appeaed in he Jounal of Communicaion, 42 (4) (Auumn, 1992), A veion will alo appea in Communicaion in he Age of Viual Realiy, F. Biocca and M. Levy, Ed.. Hilldale, NJ: Lawence Elbaum Aociae. The auho wihe o expe hi gaiude o Cliffod Na fo hi invaluable aiance wih hi pape. Thank alo o Heny Beioe, Jennife Cool, Benjamin Deenbe, Gen Johnon, Shai Levine, Mahew Lombad, Geeu Melwani, Dave Voelke, and many ohe who have A Univeiy / Induy Conoium in he Iniue fo Communicaion Reeach Depamen of Communicaion Sanfod Univeiy Sanfod, CA USA Pofeo Cliffod Na: voice [email protected] Pofeo Byon Reeve: voice [email protected] Conoium Office: voice fax [email protected]

2 Jonahan Seue Defining VR: Dimenion Deemining Telepeence ead and commened on vaiou daf fo hei inighful and hough-povoking commen, and o Lia Seaman fo he deign aiance wih Figue 3. Finally, hank o Byon Reeve, whoe inee in he idea of being hee helped o moivae hi dicuion. ocial epone o echnologie communicaion c SRCT Pape #104 Page 2

3 Jonahan Seue Defining VR: Dimenion Deemining Telepeence Defining Viual Realiy: Dimenion Deemining Telepeence ABSTRACT Viual ealiy (VR) i ypically defined in em of echnological hadwae. Thi pape aemp o ca a new, vaiable-baed definiion of viual ealiy ha can be ued o claify viual ealiy in elaion o ohe media. The definion of viual ealiy i baed on concep of peence and elepeence, which efe o he ene of being in an envionmen, geneaed by naual o mediaed mean, epecively. Two echnological dimenion ha conibue o elepeence, vividne and ineaciviy, ae dicued. A vaiey of media ae claified accoding o hee dimenion. Suggeion ae made fo he applicaion of he new definiion of viual ealiy wihin he field of communicaion eeach. ocial epone o echnologie communicaion c SRCT Pape #104 Page 3

4 Jonahan Seue Defining VR: Dimenion Deemining Telepeence Defining Viual Realiy: Dimenion Deemining Telepeence Viual ealiy (VR) ha ypically been poayed a a medium, like elephone o eleviion. Thi new medium i ypically defined in em of a paicula collecion of echnological hadwae, including compue, head-mouned diplay, headphone, and moion-ening glove. The focu of viual ealiy i hu echnological, ahe han expeienial; he locu of viual ealiy i a collecion of machine. 1 Such a concep i ueful o poduce of VR-elaed hadwae. Howeve, fo communicaion eeache, policy make, ofwae develope, o media conume, a devicediven definiion of viual ealiy i unaccepable: I fail o povide any inigh ino he pocee o effec of uing hee yem, fail o povide a concepual famewok fom which o make egulaoy deciion, fail o povide an aeheic fom which o ceae media poduc, and fail o povide a mehod fo conume o ely on hei expeience wih ohe media in undeanding he naue of viual ealiy. Theoeically, hee inadequacie ae manife in hee way. Fi, a echnology-baed view ugge ha he mo alien feaue in ecognizing a VR yem i he peence o abence of he equiie hadwae. 2 In ohe wod, a given yem i abiaily claified a VR o no-vr, depending on whehe i include a minimal copu of paicula machine. Second, uch a definiion povide no clea concepual uni of analyi fo viual ealiy. If VR coni of a hadwae yem, whee do we look o idenify a ingle viual ealiy? Examining he echnological appaau alone doe no eem adequae fo hi pupoe. A hid and elaed poblem i he lack of heoeical dimenion aco which viual ealiy can vay. All yem meeing he baic hadwae equiemen ae VR, and all ohe ae no-vr. Howeve, once hi iniial claificaion ha been made, uch a dichoomou definiion offe no uggeion of how yem claified a no-vr may eemble hoe ha ae VR, no how diffeen viual ealiy yem can be compaed. In he abence of a clea heoeical uni o any elevan dimenion fo udy, i i difficul o pefom ocial cience eeach ha addee he imilaiie and diffeence among vaiou viual ealiy yem, o ha examine VR in elaion o ohe media. Pobably he mo effecive oluion o he poblem wih he cuen uage of viual ealiy would be o abandon he em eniely (a lea fo eeach pupoe), in favo of a moe heoeically gounded em. Howeve, he em ha uck in academic a well a popula uage. I i heefoe expedien o fom a heoeically ueful concep ou of viual ealiy. Thi pape i an effo o fill hi need, addeing he afoemenioned faul by defining viual ealiy a a paicula ype of expeience, ahe han a a collecion of hadwae. Defining viual ealiy in hi way will povide ocial epone o echnologie 1 Thi pape peume boad definiion of echnology and media, uch a hoe given by Benige (1986, p. 9), who define echnology a any inenional exenion of a naual poce, ha i, poceing of mae, enegy, and infomaion ha chaaceize all living yem, and McLuhan (1964, p. 21), who define a medium a any exenion of man. 2 See Na & Maon (1990) fo an in-deph dicuion of he pacical and heoeical limiaion of objec-ceneed view of echnology, and of he impoance of vaiable-baed aegie in ovecoming hee limiaion. communicaion c SRCT Pape #104 Page 4

5 Jonahan Seue Defining VR: Dimenion Deemining Telepeence (a) a concee uni of analyi fo VR, (b) a e of dimenion ove which VR can vay, and, pehap mo impoanly, (c) a mean fo examining VR in elaion o ohe ype of mediaed expeience. DEFINING VIRTUAL REALITY Mo popula definiion of viual ealiy make efeence o a paicula echnological yem. Thi yem uually include a compue capable of eal-ime animaion, conolled by a e of wied glove and a poiion acke, and uing a head-mouned eeocopic diplay fo viual oupu. 3 The following ae hee example of uch definiion: Viual Realiy i eleconic imulaion of envionmen expeienced via head mouned eye goggle and wied clohing enabling he end ue o ineac in ealiic hee-dimenional iuaion. (Coae, 1992) Viual Realiy i an alenae wold filled wih compue-geneaed image ha epond o human movemen. Thee imulaed envionmen ae uually viied wih he aid of an expenive daa ui which feaue eeophonic video goggle and fibe-opic daa glove. (Geenbaum, 1992) The em viual wold, viual cockpi, and viual wokaion wee ued o decibe pecific pojec. In 1989, Jaon Lanie, CEO of VPL, coined he em viual ealiy o bing all of he viual pojec unde a ingle ubic. The em heefoe ypically efe o hee-dimenional ealiie implemened wih eeo viewing goggle and ealiy glove. (Kuege, 1991, p. xiii) Though hee hee definiion vay omewha, all include he noion of boh eleconically imulaed envionmen and of goggle n glove yem a he mean o acce hee envionmen. The applicaion of hee definiion (and any ohe definiion ha i imilaly baed on a paicula hadwae inaniaion) i heeby limied o hee echnologie; hei uni of analyi and poenial fo vaiance ae lef unpecified. Howeve, i i poible o define viual ealiy wihou efeence o paicula hadwae. Peence and Telepeence The key o defining viual ealiy in em of human expeience ahe han echnological hadwae i he concep of peence. Peence can be hough of a he expeience of one phyical envionmen; i efe no o one uounding a hey exi in he phyical wold, bu o he pecepion of hoe uounding a mediaed by boh auomaic and conolled menal pocee (Gibon, 1979): ocial epone o echnologie 3 See Biocca (hi volume) fo a hoough decipion of he hadwae involved in uch yem, and fo a bief eview of he pecepual pocee involved in he ceaion of uch hadwae. communicaion c SRCT Pape #104 Page 5

6 Jonahan Seue Defining VR: Dimenion Deemining Telepeence Peence i defined a he ene of being in an envionmen. 4 Many pecepual faco conibue o geneaing hi ene, including inpu fom ome o all enoy channel, a well a moe mindful aenional, pecepual, and ohe menal pocee ha aimilae incoming enoy daa wih cuen concen and pa expeience (Gibon, 1966). Peence i cloely elaed o he phenomenon of dial aibuion o exenalizaion, which efe o he efeencing of ou pecepion o an exenal pace beyond he limi of he enoy ogan hemelve (Loomi, 1992). In unmediaed pecepion, peence i aken fo ganed wha could one expeience ohe han one immediae phyical uounding? Howeve, when pecepion i mediaed by a communicaion echnology, one i foced o peceive wo epaae envionmen imulaneouly: he phyical envionmen in which one i acually peen, and he envionmen peened via he medium. 5 The em elepeence can be ued o decibe he pecedence of he lae expeience in favo of he fome; ha i, elepeence i he exen o which one feel peen in he mediaed envionmen, ahe han in he immediae phyical envionmen. Telepeence i defined a he expeience of peence in an envionmen by mean of a communicaion medium. In ohe wod, peence efe o he naual pecepion of an envionmen, and elepeence efe o he mediaed pecepion of an envionmen. Thi envionmen can be eihe a empoally o paially dian eal envionmen (fo inance, a dian pace viewed hough a video camea), o an animaed bu non-exien viual wold ynheized by a compue (fo inance, he animaed wold ceaed in a video game). Reeve (1991), in a dicuion of epone o eleviion, decibe hi expeience a a ene of being hee. He claim ha a combinaion of auomaic pecepual pocee, mindful diecion of aenion, and conciou pocee uch a naaizaion all conibue owad ou peceiving mediaed expeience a if hey wee eal. 6 Ohe have alo conuced axonomie fo examining ocial epone o echnologie 4 Peence a ued hee efe o he expeience of naual uounding; ha i, uounding in which enoy inpu impinge diecly upon he ogan of ene. The em i alo omeime ued o decibe he mediaed expeience of a phyical envionmen; hi i dicued fuhe below. 5 Fo he pupoe of hi pape, a communicaion echnology can be defined a any mean of epeening infomaion aco pace o aco ime. Mediaed communicaion and mediaed expeience ae heefoe conideed o be eenially equivalen. Again, hi i a vey boad definiion ha diffe fom many ypical view. 6 Thi i no o ay ha people ae fooled ino believing ha TV o ohe mediaed expeience ae eal. Howeve, wo diinc eeach pogam cuenly undeway a Sanfod unde he geneal ubic Social Repone o Communicaion Technologie have demonaed ha in ceain conex, people epond o mediaed imuli in way imila o hei eal-life counepa. The eeach on being hee, led by Byon Reeve, include a udy ha ugge ha image of face peened on a eleviion ceen evoke he imila ule of inepeonal pace a do acual face (Reeve, Lombad, & Melwani, 1992), a well a a udy o deemine he effec of epeening audioy and viual fideliy and paial chaaceiic in engendeing eal-wold -like epone fom elevied meage (ee Reeve, Deenbe, & Seue, 1993). The Compue a Social Aco communicaion c SRCT Pape #104 Page 6

7 Jonahan Seue Defining VR: Dimenion Deemining Telepeence mediaed expeience. Shapio and McDonald (hi iue) diffeeniae beween econuced ealiy, which i ceaed in individual baed on accumulaed daa fom mediaed peenaion o memoie of even, and conuced ealiy, which focue on how individual accep mediaed peenaion of even a eal. Heee (1992) decibe hee diinc ype of peence ha conibue o he expeience of being hee: ubjecive peonal peence, ocial peence, and peonal peence. Robine (1992) daw a imila diincion beween eal (unmediaed) and ynheic (mediaed) expeience in he conex of dicuing peence. The ue of elepeence o efe o any medium-induced ene of peence i imila o ome, bu no all, peviou ue of he em. The em wa coined by Mavin Minky (1980) in efeence o eleopeaion yem fo emoe manipulaion of phyical objec. Sheidan & Fune (1992) have coninued hi adiion by adoping he name Peence (ahe han Telepeence) fo a new jounal dedicaed o he udy of boh eleopeao and viual envionmen yem. In he fi iue of he jounal, an enie ecion i devoed o he concep of elepeence. Sheidan (1992) ue he em peence o efe o he geneic pecepion of being in an aificial o emoe envionmen, eeving elepeence only fo cae involving eleopeaion. Howeve, in he ame ecion of he jounal, Held & Dulach (1992) ue elepeence o efe o he expeience common o boh eleopeaion and he expeience of viual envionmen. The boade em i ued hee in ode o highligh he imilaiie beween eleopeaion and viual envionmen. By employing he concep elepeence, we can now define viual ealiy wihou efeence o any paicula hadwae yem: A viual ealiy i defined a a eal o imulaed envionmen in which a peceive expeience elepeence. 7 Admiedly, hi definiion doe no meh peciely wih ypical ue of he em. Indeed, given he boad definiion of he concep involved, hi definiion of viual ealiy include viually all mediaed expeience. In o doing, i ugge an alenaive view of mediaed communicaion in geneal. Tadiionally, he poce of communicaion i decibed in em of he anmiion of infomaion, a a poce linking ende and eceive. 8 Media ae heefoe impoan only a a condui, a a mean of connecing ende and eceive, and ae only ineeing o he exen ha hey conibue o o ohewie inefee wih anmiion of meage fom ende o eceive. In cona, he elepeence view focue aenion on he elaionhip beween an individual who i boh a ende and a eceive, and on he mediaed envionmen wih which he o he ineac. Infomaion i no anmied fom ende o eceive; ahe, mediaed envionmen ae ceaed and hen ocial epone o echnologie pojec, led by Cliffod Na, ha hown ha compue can evoke ocial epone imila o hoe evoked by ohe human, even in iuaion whee hee i no logical explanaion fo uch behavio (ee Na, Seue, Heniken, & Dye, in pe; Na & Seue, 1993) 7 I fi encouneed a imila definiion of VR in a poing o he WELL compue confeencing yem by Howad Rheingold, daed May 23, Rheingold book Viual Realiy (1991) i an excellen uvey of he hioy of VR. 8 Example of model meeing hi geneal decipion can be found in DeFleu & Ball-Rokeach, 1989; Schamm, 1974; Shannon & Weave, 1962; o in viually any inoducoy communicaion ex. communicaion c SRCT Pape #104 Page 7

8 Jonahan Seue Defining VR: Dimenion Deemining Telepeence expeienced (ee Sheidan, 1992). A gaphical cona beween hee wo view of mediaed communicaion i hown in Figue 1. Figue 1: Two Model of Mediaed Communicaion (afe Kuege, 1991, p. 37) Tadiional View A B Telepeence View viual ealiy A B Viual Realiie and Media Machine menioned in peviou definiion of viual ealiy (compue, poiion eno, headmouned diplay, ec.) ae all elaively ecen developmen. Howeve, he definiion of VR a elepeence can be applied o pa, peen, and fuue media echnologie. Conide, fo example, he elephone. Mo ue ake fo ganed he poibiliy of alking o omeone who i no phyically peen a if hey wee anding in he ame oom. 9 Bu imagine hi cene (adaped fom he film Being Thee [Ahby & Koinki,1979]): You eceive you fi-eve elephone call. You ae handed he elephone and lif i o you ea. You hea nohing, and exclaim, No one i hee. A fiend anding neaby ake he eceive, peak ino i, and hand i back o you. Oh ye, he hee, you ocial epone o echnologie 9 Obviouly, elephone-mediaed communicaion i no exacly he ame a face-o-face communicaion: only audioy cue ae povided ove he elephone, and even hee ae vey limied in em of dynamic ange and fequency pecum. Howeve, hee i ill a ene in which he expeience ae quie imila. communicaion c SRCT Pape #104 Page 8

9 Jonahan Seue Defining VR: Dimenion Deemining Telepeence fiend eplie. You look a you fiend quizzically, hen poin o he elephone, poin o you immediae uounding, and inquie, Whee i he? Thee o hee? How can one explain he eemingly bizae abiliy o peak o omeone who i no peen by mean of alking ino a piece of plaic? Of coue, a menioned above, hi poce can be conceived in em of ende, eceive, and meage. Howeve, uch an explanaion fail o accoun fo he odd expeience of peaking o omeone who i no acually hee. Whee doe uch a conveaion ake place? The mo plauible concepual model i ha boh paie, by mean of he elephone, ae eleconically peen in he ame viual ealiy ceaed by he elephone yem. A few addiional example illuae hi diffeence wih epec o a numbe of diffeen media: Reading a lee fom a dian fiend o colleague can evoke a ene of peence in he envionmen in which he lee wa wien, o can make he dian pay eem locally peen. Thi feeling can occu even when one i unfamilia wih he emoe phyical uounding. When people elephone an ailine uing a oll-fee numbe o make eevaion fo a fligh, hey ofen ak he opeao whee he o he eally i. They do hi becaue hey ae uncomfoable ineacing in a viual ealiy ha ha no ohe conexual clue, and I heefoe wih o ceae a backgound ino which o place he opeao chaace. 10 Ue of muliple online yem (uch a bullein boad, confeenceing yem, ec.) epo ha each yem povide a diinc ene of place. Liening o live ecoding of muic (ecoding made duing a pefomance) give he liene a ene of peence in he oom (e.g. conce hall) in which he ecoding wa made. Howeve, ecoding made in a udio can alo evoke uch feeling, even hough hee wa no ingle pefomance a which a liene could have been peen. Nuclea powe plan opeao obeve he inide of he eaco by mean of a emoely mouned moveable camea and handle adioacive chemical by mean of emoely conolled mechanical hand. Video game playe decibe he expeience of moving an animaed ca on he ceen a diving. Each of hee iuaion evoke, in ome ene, a feeling of elepeence. A imila ene can be expeienced via viually any echnology ued in mediaed communicaion. Newpape, lee, and magazine place he eade in a pace in which he wie i elling a oy; eleviion place he viewe in a viual pace in which boh viewe and on-ceen objec ae peen; and video game ceae viual pace in which he game-playe i an aco. Thu, he definiion of viual ealiy in em of elepeence povide a concepual famewok in which uch newly developed echnologie can be examined in elaion o ohe media echnologie. Fuhemoe, defining viual ealiy in em of elepeence alleviae he hee difficulie enumeaed above. Fi, VR efe o an expeience ahe han o a machine. The ocial epone o echnologie 10 Fo a dicuion of he impoance of gounding connumicaion in hi way, ee Clak & Bennan, communicaion c SRCT Pape #104 Page 9

10 Jonahan Seue Defining VR: Dimenion Deemining Telepeence definiion heeby hif he locu of VR fom a paicula hadwae package o he pecepion of an individual. Second, hi definiion pecifie he uni of analyi of VR he individual ince VR coni of an individual expeience of peence. Thu, dependen meaue of VR mu all be meaue of individual expeience, poviding an obviou mean of applying knowledge abou pecepual pocee and individual diffeence in deemining he naue of VR. Finally, ince hi definiion i no echnology-baed, i pemi vaiaion aco echnologie along a numbe of dimenion. The emainde of hi pape will be dedicaed o explicaing viual ealiy in elaion o wo uch dimenion vividne and ineaciviy. Vaiable Pedicing Viual Realiy Fi-peon expeience of he eal wold epeen a andad o which all mediaed expeience ae compaed, eihe mindfully o ohewie; face-o-face ineacion wih ohe human i ued a a model fo all ineacive communicaion (Dulak, 1987). The human pecepual yem ha been uned hough he poce of evoluion fo he pecepion of eal-wold envionmen. The expeience of viual ealiie can be enhanced by appealing o hee ame pecepual mechanim (ee Reeve, 1991). Howeve, ince VR i defined in em of an individual expeience of a paicula kind, i i difficul o aive a opeaional meaue of elepeence (ee Held & Dulach, 1992). Since elepeence i neceaily expeienced by mean of a medium of ome kind, popeie of he medium will alo affec he pecepion of viual ealiy. Faco influencing whehe a paicula mediaed iuaion will induce a ene of elepeence include he following: he combinaion of enoy imuli employed in he envionmen, he way in which paicipan ae able o ineac wih he envionmen, and he chaaceiic of he individual expeiencing he envionmen. Thu, elepeence i a funcion of boh echnology and peceive. Vaiaion Aco Technologie Sheidan (1992) idenifie five vaiable ha conibue o inducing a ene of elepeence. Thee of hem ae echnological: he exen of enoy infomaion, conol of eno elaive o envionmen, and he abiliy o modify he phyical envionmen (ee Biocca, 1992, Figue 3, fo a gaphical depicion). The ohe wo ae ak-, o conex-baed: ak difficuly, and degee of auomaion. Zelzne (1992) povide a imila maix of vaiable ha decibe he capabiliie of gaphic imulaion yem, which he em auonomy (human conol), ineacion (eal-ime conol), and peence (bandwidh of enaion). Naimak (1992) employ a ix-caegoy axonomy fo viually epeening and epoducing expeience. Robine (1992) peen a moe echnically-diven ninecaegoy axonomy o decibe envionmen peened by head-mouned diplay: caualiy, model ouce, ime, pace, upepoiion, diplay, eno, acion meaue, and acuao. Two majo dimenion aco which communicaion echnologie vay ae dicued hee a deeminan of elepeence. The fi, vividne, efe o he abiliy of a echnology o poduce a enoially ich mediaed envionmen. 11 The econd, ineaciviy, efe o he degee o which ocial epone o echnologie 11 Noe ha hi definiion doe no make efeence o eembling objec in he eal wold, and heeby avoid poblem in decibing he expeience of aificial iuaion. Fo inance, how doe one deemine whehe a unicon in viual ealiy look like a eal-wold unicon? By efeing only o enoy ichne, hi definiion avoid uch concen. communicaion c SRCT Pape #104 Page 10

11 Jonahan Seue Defining VR: Dimenion Deemining Telepeence ue of a medium can influence he fom o conen of he mediaed envionmen. Media ai Michael Naimak (1990) efe o hee ame popeie a ealne and ineaciviy. Ohe, including Lauel (1991) and Rheingold (1991), make imila diincion. See Figue 2 fo a gaphical depicion of hee wo dimenion and fo ome of he vaiable ha conibue o each. When conideing hee dimenion, one hould emembe ha viual ealiie eide in an individual concioune; heefoe, he elaive conibuion of each of hee dimenion o ceaing a ene of envionmenal peence will vay aco individual. Similaly, diffeence in he conen of he mediaed envionmen ha i, in he kind of eniie epeened and in he ineacion among hem will alo affec he pecepion of peence. Howeve, he vaiable vividne and ineaciviy efe only o he epeenaional powe of he echnology, ahe han o he individual; ha i, hee vaiable deemine popeie of he imulu ha will have imila bu no idenical amificaion aco a ange of peceive. The emainde of hi ecion conide hee wo dimenion in ome deail. Figue 2: Technological Vaiable Influencing Telepeence elepeence human expeience echnology vividne ineaciviy beadh deph peed ange mapping Vividne One vaiable popey of media echnologie ha influence hei abiliy o induce a ene of peence i vividne: Vividne mean he epeenaional ichne of a mediaed envionmen a defined by i fomal feaue, ha i, he way in which an envionmen peen infomaion o he ene. Vividne i imulu diven, depending eniely upon echnical chaaceiic of a medium. Rafaeli (1985) efe o hi popey a anpaency (p.9). A highly vivid medium can be conideed ho in he McLuhaneque ene, a i exend one [o many] ene[] in high definiion. (1964, p. 36). Many faco conibue o vividne. Two genealized bu impoan vaiable will be dicued hee: enoy beadh, which efe o he numbe of enoy dimenion imulaneouly peened, and enoy deph, which efe o he eoluion wihin each of hee pecepual channel. ocial epone o echnologie communicaion c SRCT Pape #104 Page 11

12 Jonahan Seue Defining VR: Dimenion Deemining Telepeence Beadh i a funcion of he abiliy of a communicaion medium o peen infomaion aco he ene. J. J. Gibon (1966) define five diinc pecepual yem: he baic oiening yem (which i eponible fo mainaining body equilibium), he audioy yem, he hapic (ouch) yem, he ae mell yem, and he viual yem. Inpu o eveal of hee yem fom a ingle ouce can be conideed infomaionally equivalen (Gibon, 1966). Howeve, he edundancy euling fom imulaneou acivaion of a numbe of pecepual yem educe he numbe of alenaive iuaion ha could induce uch a combinaion of pecepion and heefoe enghen he pecepion of a paicula envionmen. Thi concep i be illuaed by an example. Imagine anding on a ee cone in a ainom. Which ene i eponible fo geneaing a ene of peence in ha envionmen? The hapic yem i acivaed by aindop hiing he body, bu a imila enaion could eul fom being payed by a neaby pinkle. Similaly, he mell of a oggy dog anding neaby could eul fom ohe iuaion. Bu when hee pecepion occu imulaneouly he image of aindop falling on he ee and he building, he ound of he aindop hiing he gound and he ca diving aco we pavemen, and he ae of we dieel exhau fom paing bue a ene of being on a ee cone in he ain i clealy geneaed. The vividne of he ee cone cene i no geneaed by any ingle enoy inpu alone bu by he imulaneou juxapoiion of all enoy inpu. Ofen, edundan infomaion i peened imulaneouly: One hea an exploion, ee he flah, and mell he moke imulaneouly. Thi edundancy eve o fuhe enhance vividne. Tadiional media uch a pin, elephone, eleviion, and film ae elaively low in beadh, elying pimaily on he viual and audioy channel. Howeve, ome ai have aemped o expand hee boundaie. Film uch a Eahquake (Robon, 1974) and The Tingle (Cale, 1959) included vibaing device aached o heae ea in ode o add hapic enaion; he film Polyee (Wae, 1981) wa oiginally peened in Odoama on eneing he heae, heaegoe wee peened wih a cach-and-niff cad and wee inuced o mell ceain cen a appopiae poin duing he film. One noable ealy example of an aemp o povide gea enoy beadh in a mediaed peenaion i he Senoama device, developed by Mo Heilig (ee Kuege, 1991, and Rheingold, 1991 fo moe deailed decipion). Thi acade-game yle imulao uilize fou of he five ene o imulae a moocycle ide: Ue ee he Manhaan ee go by, hea he oa of he moocycle and he ound of he ee, mell he exhau of ohe ca and pizza cooking in oadide eauan, and feel he vibaion of he handleba. Similaly, many heme pak aacion, paiculaly hoe a Wal Diney Wold and Dineyland, ue a high degee of beadh in ode o imulae a ene of peence. The addiion of change in oienaion, hapic enaion, mell, and ae, in combinaion wih audioy and viual enaion, ae paiculaly effecive in hi egad. Fo example, he Sa Tou and Body Wa imulao combine a moion plafom wih mulichannel ound and film o imulae pace avel and a ou hough he human body, epecively. Ohe aacion ue imila mean o enhance he ene of peence induced by cene employing animaed hee-dimenional figue: In he Piae of he Caibbean aacion, he mell of gunpowde i ued o enhance he illuion of being in he mid of a bale; he Univee of Enegy in he EPCOT Cene employ hea lamp and humidifie o imulae he expeience of being among he dinoau; and he Spacehip Eah uilize chemical moke o enhance he peceived ealim of ending moke ignal wih a imulaed campfie. ocial epone o echnologie communicaion c SRCT Pape #104 Page 12

13 Jonahan Seue Defining VR: Dimenion Deemining Telepeence Newe media echnologie have made imila effo o augmen he beadh of mediaed expeience (ee Biocca, 1992). Fo inance, ound ha become inceaingly impoan in compue ineface deign, and new acile-feedback conolle have been developed fo ue in compue-baed ineacive yem. Given he gea aenion uch echnologie have achieved in ecen yea, i eem afe o aume ha ubanial advance will be made in hi diecion in he nea fuue. The vividne of a paicula mediaed epeenaion alo depend upon he deph of he enoy infomaion available in each pecepual channel. Thi concep can be decibed in em of qualiy : an image wih geae deph i geneally peceived a being of highe qualiy han one of lee deph; he ame i ue fo audioy epeenaion. Infomaionally, deph depend diecly upon he amoun of daa encoded and he daa bandwidh of he anmiion channel. In eal-wold pecepion, deph i aken fo ganed, a ou enoy mechanim almo alway opeae a full bandwidh. Howeve, he ame i no ue of mediaed pecepion. In deigning media yem, we mu alway make acifice in bandwidh; no cuenly available audioy o viual ecoding yem mach he capabiliie of he human audioy and viual yem. Fo inance, in he cae of he audioy yem, ou abiliy o ecognize he paicula ound, uch a hoe of diffeen muical inumen o diffeen voice, eul fom he imulaneou pecepion of a complex combinaion of ampliude and fequency cue, a well a diffeence in aival ime and ineniy beween he ignal fom he wo ea (ee Wenzel, 1992). In ode o epeen a ound peciely by mean of a medium, all of hee chaaceiic mu be peciely eceaed. Howeve, depending on he inended pupoe of a medium, hi i no alway neceay: The elephone yem ha been opimized fo he anmiion of compehenible peech in he minimum poible bandwidh and heefoe uilize only he minimum level of ound qualiy equied fo compehenibly anmiing peech ignal. Becaue peech pecepion i a diec ymbolic poce (Gibon, 1966), a lowe-bandwidh epeenaion i ufficien fo conveying conen. In cona, compac dic (CD) have been opimized fo diibuion of ecoded muic and heeby mu be capable of epeening a fa wide audioy bandwidh. They heefoe encode a ubanially geae quaniy of daa and can povide much geae deph. Bu neihe of hee yem i capable of encoding he full ange of ambien and paial infomaion ha i eenial in peening a ealiic audioy epeenaion of a pace; howeve, boh uound-ound yem ha ue loudpeake o ceae an illuion of pace (Dele, 1988; Mead, 1987), and immeive, headphone-baed audioy diplay ha peen acouic envionmen keyed o he moion of he weae (Wenzel, 1992; Dulach, e. al., 1992) pomie o exend he abiliy of media yem o eceae he paial deail ha i o impoan in inducing a ene of peence (ee Blaue, 1983). A imila adeoff i eviden in he cae of eleviion anmiion. Mo commecial film ae ho uing 35 mm film, which ha a high viual eoluion in em of boh numbe of picue elemen (pixel) pe uni aea and he ange of diffeen colo ha can be epeened by any given pixel. Film heefoe exemplifie gea enoy deph. In cona, eleviion i echnologically limied o only 525 line of eoluion (fo he NTSC video andad ued in Ameica) egadle of ceen ize, and can capue a much naowe ange of colo wih each pixel. Televiion i heefoe conideably lowe in deph han film. The deie o bing geae enoy deph o he eleviion image i he moivaing foce behind he Advanced Televiion (ATV) yem cuenly unde udy; ocial epone o echnologie communicaion c SRCT Pape #104 Page 13

14 Jonahan Seue Defining VR: Dimenion Deemining Telepeence howeve, hee advanage come a gea co in em of bandwidh equiemen. 12 Vaiou nonimmeive hee-dimenional viual yem, including he ViewMae, hee-dimenional film, and hologam, aemp o accuaely poay a ene of deph aco pa of he viual field, while immeive viual diplay uch a eeocopic head-mouned diplay ceae a ene of peence by peening a viual envionmen ha move wih he viewe. The elaive conibuion of beadh and deph o vividne ae no conan. Fo example, a ilen film ha conideably geae image deail han doe a video peenaion wih ound; i i heefoe geae in deph bu lee in beadh. Similaly, a compac dic ecoding of an opea ha much wide fequency bandwidh and geae dynamic ange in he audioy domain han doe a andad videoape of he ame pefomance, bu he videoape include image. The imulaneou engagemen of muliple pecepual yem i an exemely effecive mean of engendeing a ene of peence, even if ome imuli ae quie low in deph (a i he cae in he afoemenioned Diney aacion). I i likely ha beadh and deph ae muliplicaively elaed in geneaing a ene of peence, wih each dimenion eving o enhance he ohe; he exac naue of hi ineacion clealy waan fuhe udy. New echnologie pomie o expand boh he enoy beadh and deph of mediaed expeience (ee Biocca, 1992, fo a eview). A media echnologie become moe and moe vivid, i i poible ha we will omeday have yem capable of paing a pecepual Tuing e. The amificaion of media yem whoe epeenaion ae pecepually indiinguihable fom hei eal-wold counepa i boh exciing and eifying exciing becaue of he poibiliie affoded by uch yem o expeience dian and nonexien wold, ye eifying becaue of he bluing of diincion beween epeenaion and ealiy. Ineaciviy Communicaion media can alo be claified in em of ineaciviy: Ineaciviy i defined a he exen o which ue can paicipae in modifying he fom and conen of a mediaed envionmen in eal ime. Ineaciviy in hi ene i diinc fom engagemen o involvemen a hee em ae fequenly ued by communicaion eeache (ee Rafaeli, 1986, 1988); fo he pupoe of hi pape, ineaciviy (like vividne) i a imulu-diven vaiable, and i deemined by he echnological ucue of he medium. Thi definiion of ineaciviy diffe ubanially fom ha ued by mo communicaion eeache. Conide Rafaeli definiion: Ineaciviy i a vaiable chaaceiic of communicaion eing. Fomally aed, ineaciviy i an expeion of he exen ha in a given eie of communicaion exchange, any hid (o lae) anmiion (o meage) i elaed o he degee o which peviou exchange efeed o even ealie anmiion. (1988, p. 111) ocial epone o echnologie 12 Indeed, he developmen of algoihm capable of compeing he huge amoun of daa equied fo he anmiion of high-eoluion moving picue ino a manageable bandwidh ha been he pimay obacle in he developmen of ATV yem. communicaion c SRCT Pape #104 Page 14

15 Jonahan Seue Defining VR: Dimenion Deemining Telepeence ocial epone o echnologie The diffeence beween Rafaeli definiion and ha given above i no upiing, ince hi definiion, like ohe in he communicaion lieaue (ee Dulak, 1987; Rafaeli, 1988), i baed on he adiional view of mediaed communicaion dicued above. In cona, he definiion given hee i baed on elepeence view of mediaed communicaion and heeby focue on popeie of he mediaed envionmen and he elaionhip of individual o ha envionmen. Ineaciviy i a vaiable of gea concen o eeache in human-compue ineacion (ee Heckel, 1991; Lauel, 1986, 1990, 1991; Noman, 1986, 1988; Schneideman, 1992; Tukle, 1984). A dicued above, boh Sheidan (1992) and Zelze (1992) include vaiable ha eemble he definiion of ineaciviy given hee a pa of hei dicuion of peence. Indeed, he definiion of ineaciviy ued hee may be viewed a collaping wo of he hee dimenion in each of hei model conol of eno and abiliy o modify envionmen in Sheidan model; auonomy and ineacion in Zelze model ino he ingle dimenion ha include all apec of he peceive conol of hi elaionhip o he envionmen. A limiaion of defining ineaciviy in em of he malleabiliy of a medium fom and conen i ha uch a definiion doe no include conol ove how he medium can be expeienced. Thu, a book, which canno be changed eaily in eal ime wihou cuing i apa i no conideed ineacive, hough one can ceainly ead a book ineacively, jumping a will fom page o page and fom chape o chape. Conveely, a laedic yem ha include pogamming ha enable a ue o conol he ode in which i conen i peened in eal ime baed i conideed omewha ineacive, becaue he medium ielf can change. And clealy, boh a poiion-ening, headmouned diplay conolling a compue-geneaed gaphical envionmen in eal ime and a exbaed muli-ue dungeon (MUD, ee Buckman, 1991; Rheingold, 1993) ha allow phyically dian paicipan o ineac wih each ohe ae conideed quie ineacive. Mo adiional media yem ae no paiculaly ineacive in hi ene: Ineacion wih a newpape i poible only by wiing lee o he edio o by wiing oie fo incluion; call-in how and eque line povide he only mean of ineacion wih adio; mo paining ae no ineacive a all. Thee faco ha conibue o ineaciviy will be examined hee (alhough many ohe ae alo impoan): peed, which efe o he ae a which inpu can be aimilaed ino he mediaed envionmen; ange, which efe o he numbe of poibiliie fo acion a any given ime; and mapping, which efe o he abiliy of a yem o map i conol o change in he mediaed envionmen in a naual and pedicable manne. Speed of ineacion, o epone ime, i one impoan chaaceiic of an ineacive media yem. Real-ime ineacion clealy epeen he highe poible value fo hi vaiable: The acion of a ue inananeouly ale he mediaed envionmen. Many new media aemp o each hi level of ineaciviy, heeby enabling mediaed expeience o ubiue fo o amplify pecepion of he wold in eal ime. Thi immediacy of epone i one of he popeie ha make even low-eoluion video game eem highly vivid. Compueized viual-wold yem uing goggle n glove alo eem highly ineacive, a hey aemp o map ue acion o acion in he viual envionmen in eal ime (hough ome delay i ill common). The elephone pemi uch eal-ime ineacion among wo paie (hee o moe in he cae of a confeence call); eleconfeencing yem and goupwae compue applicaion imilaly exend eal-ime ineaciviy o muliple ue and muliple modaliie. Ohe media yem pemi le immediae communicaion c SRCT Pape #104 Page 15

16 Jonahan Seue Defining VR: Dimenion Deemining Telepeence ineacion: Film, like book, allow no ineacion a all (a long ime!); an anweing machine allow meage o be lef and eieved a a lae ime bu offe no indicaion of how long he inevening ineval may be; and compue confeencing yem pemi nealy inananeou ineacion, equiing ue only o finih yping a meage befoe ending i. Boh MUD' and online cha yem (uch a Inene Relay Cha and he cha oom on commecial online evice) expand hi level of ineaciviy o include 30 o moe imulaneou ue. The ange of ineaciviy i deemined by he numbe of aibue of he mediaed envionmen ha can be manipulaed and by he amoun of vaiaion poible wihin each aibue. In ohe wod, ange efe o he amoun of change ha can be effeced on he mediaed envionmen. The pecific dimenion ha can be modified depend on he chaaceiic of he paicula medium bu include empoal odeing (dicued below), paial oganizaion (whee objec appea), ineniy (loudne of ound, bighne of image, ineniy of mell), and vaiou fequency chaaceiic (imbe, colo). The geae he numbe of paamee ha can be modified, he geae he ange of ineaciviy of a given medium. Video-baed yem, lied hee by inceaing ange, povide a good e of example along which a ubdimenion of ange, empoal odeing, can vay: 13 A eleviion boadca pemi a vey mall numbe of poible acion a a given inan, ince a paicula pogam i eihe on o off (coninuou play). A pogam ecoded on videoape can be paued a any ime (a-op), and poion may be kipped o epeaed a he whim of he viewe (each). An ineacive laedic augmen hee capabiliie by allowing andom-acce jump o any poion of he pogam in a mae of econd. A compue-baed animaion yem acually can pemi ineacion wih objec in he mediaed envionmen (ahe han wih he envionmen a a whole) in eal ime. Mapping efe o he way in which human acion ae conneced o acion wihin a mediaed envionmen (ee Noman, 1986, 1988). A one exeme, hee mapping can be compleely abiay and unelaed o he funcion pefomed. Fo inance, wiggling one lef oe migh inceae he loudne of ound fom he eleviion peake, o yping abiay command ino a compue migh hif he pepecive of he image in a head-mouned diplay. A he ohe end of he pecum, mapping may be compleely naual: Tuning a eeing wheel on an acade video game migh make he viual ca on he ceen move accodingly, o mimicking he acion of howing a ball while weaing a glove conolle migh iniiae he howing of a viual ball. Mapping i hu a funcion of boh he ype of conolle ued o ineac wih a mediaed envionmen and of he way in which he acion of hee conolle ae conneced o acion wihin ha envionmen. In iuaion in which acion in a mediaed envionmen ha a diec eal-wold counepa, uch a he auomobile and baeball example dicued above, he appopiae mapping aegy hould mach he naual acion a cloely a poible. In ohe cae, appopiae ue of meapho can help mach conolle and conolled. Fo example, he Apple Macinoh compue ue a dekop meapho fo oganizing i file yem (ee Eickon, 1990); he jog-hule moion-conol wheel found on many VCR ue a diecional meapho fo mapping hand conol o ape moion wiing one way move fowad, he ohe backwad, and he amoun of wi deemine he hule peed. In ome cae, a compleely abiay yem mu be leaned, uch a i he cae wih he QWERTY layou of ocial epone o echnologie 13 Of coue, each of hee media alo ha a ange of ineaciviy aco many ohe dimenion, uch a image bighne, cona, colo, hue, ec. Howeve, he echnologie lied do no diffe in hi egad. communicaion c SRCT Pape #104 Page 16

17 Jonahan Seue Defining VR: Dimenion Deemining Telepeence mo ypewie and compue keyboad. Howeve, even an abiay bu andadized mapping yem i bee han no yem a all, becaue uch a yem need be leaned only once. Since ou pecepual yem ae opimized fo ineacion wih he eal wold, mapping i geneally inceaed by adaping conolle o he human body. Many uch conolle ae now unde developmen (ee Biocca, 1992); peech-ecogniion yem and glove epiomize uch deign. A hee and ohe echnologie become moe advanced, he mapping of conolle acion o acion in mediaed envionmen i likely o become inceaingly naual. Vaiaion Aco Individual If viual ealiy i defined in em of elepeence, hen i locu i he peceive. Unde hi definiion, viual ealiy efe only o hoe pecepion of elepeence induced by a communicaion medium. Theefoe, viual ealiy can be diinguihed fom puely pychic phenomena (uch a deam o hallucinaion), ince hee expeience equie no pecepual inpu a all, and can be diinguihed fom he eal ealiy a expeienced via ou unaided pecepual hadwae, ince viual ealiie (unlike eal ealiie) can be expeienced only hough a medium. The numbe of aco peen in a viual wold can alo affec he pecepion of elepeence. Since human ae well accuomed o ineacing wih ohe human in he eal wold, he appaen peence of ohe in viual wold hould enhance he expeience of elepeence. Alhough viual ealiy efe o individual expeience, muliple individual can expeience imila viual ealiie by haing he ame viual pace, eihe eleconically o hough ohe echnological mean. Thi poce occu ove a wide ange of echnologie: in eleconic bullein-boad yem (BBS), confeencing yem, and MUD' by mean of ex, in eleconfeencing yem by mean of video, and in movie heae by imulaneouly binging eveyone in he heae ino he ame pojeced wold. Boh immediae iuaional faco and ongoing peonal concen (efeed o a backgound by Winogad & Floe [1986]) ae impoan in deemining he exen of elepeence. Thee faco alo ineac wih he vividne and ineaciviy of he medium ielf. The elaive impoance of each inpu modaliy vaie fom iuaion o iuaion. Conide he ealie example involving anding on a ee cone in he ain: Which enoy inpu i mo impoan in geneaing he impeion of being peen on he ee cone? The anwe depend on he paicula individual. If a fiend i waving fom aco he ee, hen igh i mo impoan; howeve, if he o he i yelling ahe han waving, hen heaing i mo impoan. An ahmaic migh ely on mell o idenify iuaion in which beahing poblem migh aie, wheea ouch i mo impoan o he Wicked Wich, who mu eek hele o mel in he ain. Siuaional chaaceiic ae alo impoan: A low-flying je aicaf ende he audioy channel empoaily uele fo aacing aenion, a ciy bu imilaly block viion, and an oxygen mak o aincoa could help he ahmaic o he wich. ocial epone o echnologie communicaion c SRCT Pape #104 Page 17

18 Jonahan Seue Defining VR: Dimenion Deemining Telepeence Lauel (1986, 1990, 1991) emphaize he expeienial naue of ou ineacion wih media echnologie. 14 Lauel decibe media ue in em of mimei (a fom of aiic imiaion ypically applied in damaic conex), liken he elaionhip beween ue and echnology o acion in a play, and emphaize he impoance of encouaging he ue of a echnology o develop a fipeon, ahe han hid-peon, elaionhip wih hi o he mediaed envionmen. Engagemen, which Lauel (1991) decibe a a pimaily emoional ae wih cogniive componen, eve a a ciical faco in engendeing a feeling of fi-peonne (p. 113). Engagemen i likened o wha poe Samuel Taylo Coleidge called he willing upenion of dibelief : Coleidge believed ha any idio could ee ha a play on age wa no eal life. (Plao would have diageed wih him, a do hoe in whom fea i induced by any new epeenaional medium, bu ha i anohe oy.) Coleidge noiced ha, in ode o enjoy a play, we mu empoaily upend (o aenuae) ou knowledge ha i i peend. We do hi willingly in ode o expeience ohe emoional epone a a eul of viewing he acion. The phenomenon ha Coleidge decibed can be een o occu almo idenically in compue game, whee we feel fo and wih he chaace (including ouelve a chaace) in vey imila way. (Lauel, 1991, p. 113) Thi willingne o inepe mediaed expeience a if hey ae veidical eul fom a complex ineacion among faco including boh he conciou deie o le oneelf go, and le mindful pocee enailed by he fomal chaaceiic of he medium ielf (ee Reeve, 1991) and by he ocial conen of ha envionmen (ee Na and Seue, 1993). Thi poce i of gea inee in he conex of all kind of mediaed expeience; howeve, fuhe dicuion i beyond he cope of hi chape. Dimenion and Media Media yem ha ae boh highly vivid and highly ineacive ae no ye widely available. Indeed, video game ae he cloe mo people have come o uch yem. So oo, media yem ha allow individual o ineac wih each ohe in naual way wihin viual envionmen ae no ye common, no ae yem ha can epeen he eemingly infinie ange of enoy aw maeial peen in he eal wold. Howeve, yem ha ae high on boh dimenion ae quie common in cience ficion: The Holodeck on Sa Tek: The Nex Geneaion povide eal-ime ineacive mulienoy imulaion, a doe he nuey in Badbuy ho oy The Veld (1951). Cybepace, an eleconic ealm conceived by cience ficion auho William Gibon (1984), povide a omewha diffeen viion of an ineacive mulienoy envionmen. Cybepace encompae boh eal and ynheized ealiie a a unified maix of daa and i expeienced by jacking in one nevou yem diecly o he mediaed wold by mean of pecial hadwae. Thu, unlike adiional mediaed expeience, cybepace bypae he ene ogan compleely, peening i imuli diecly o he pecepual yem in he bain, heeby peumably maximizing boh enoy beadh and deph. Gibon delineae he expeience of cybepace fom anohe, non-ineacive ocial epone o echnologie 14 Though Lauel explicily dicue human-compue ineface deign, mo of he poin ae equally applicable o ohe media a well. Indeed, wha make he wiing facinaing i he exen o which he concep apply aco media. communicaion c SRCT Pape #104 Page 18

19 Jonahan Seue Defining VR: Dimenion Deemining Telepeence medium called imim, which i alo expeienced via diec neual ineface bu pemi only paive expeience (much like eleviion). Figue 3: Vaiou Media Technologie Claified by Vividne and Ineaciviy high vividne low low culpue lide paining Gibon' Simim Sa Tou 3-D film in odoama dioama Piae of he Caibbean book IMAX THX 70mm film phoogaph View- Mae x-ay Heilig' Senoama 3-D film 35mm film boadca HDTV Ninendo Ech-A- Skech newpape boadca TV adio QVC / Home Shopping Club club DJ pay pe view CD FAX lee newwie BBS' moke ignal elegaph laedic VCR ape ecode voice mail anweing machine elegam ineacive laedic Sega Gibon' Badbuy' Cybepace Nuey Sa Tek Holodeck Pong PDA Pee Wee' Magic Sceen ineaciviy ineacive TV 3DO kaaoke elephone IRC / online cha picue phone eleconfeence eal-ime eleconic confeence confeence call goggle, glove, 'n' headphone goggle 'n' glove gaphical MUD' w/ound gaphical MUD' CB adio walkiealkie MUD' high ocial epone o echnologie communicaion c SRCT Pape #104 Page 19

20 Jonahan Seue Defining VR: Dimenion Deemining Telepeence Figue 3 claifie a wide ange of media echnologie, boh eal and ficional, in em of vividne and ineaciviy. 15 In conideing hi cha, i i ineeing o noe boh he aea ha ae coveed by echnologie ha ae cuenly peen, and he aea ha emain blank, fo which he appopiae echnologie have no ye been developed. Since he dimenion dicued hee depend on a wide vaiey of independen vaiable, he exac elaionhip beween hee popeie and he expeience of elepeence (a dependen vaiable) i a mae fo empiical udy (hough many hypohee can be geneaed). I eem ha vividne and ineaciviy ae boh poiively elaed o elepeence; ha i, he moe vivid and he moe ineacive a paicula envionmen i, he geae he ene of peence evoked by ha envionmen. Howeve, hee pedicion may no alway hold and may be dependen on ohe miigaing faco. Fo example, a McLuhan (1964) pediced, an exemely ho medium (one ha deigned o maximize vividne) may acually deceae he abiliy of ubjec o mindfully ineac wih i in eal ime. Thi may be a eul of limiaion on cogniive poceing powe available in he peceive; apid-fie, high-bandwidh, mulienoy imulaion migh engage uch a gea poion of he bain cogniive capaciy ha none i lef fo moe mindful pocee (ee Lang, 1992; Reeve, Deenbe, & Seue, 1993). Communicaion Reeach and Viual Realiy Many udie egading media conen and individual faco conibuing o mediaed pecepion have been pefomed in he field of communicaion. Howeve, few udie have explicily addeed ineaciviy, vividne o imila vaiable. Quie a bi of eeach on ineaciviy ha been done in he field of human-compue ineacion, bu, a noed by Rafaeli (1985, 1988), ineaciviy eeach ha been oely negleced by communicaion eeache. Similaly, mo of he eeach on vividne ha been echnology oiened, in ode o deemine whehe he co of implemening a paicula echnological impovemen i waaned by ue inceaed liking (ee McFalane, 1991, and Neuman, e al., 1987, fo example of uch udie; ee Reeve, Deenbe, & Seue, 1993, fo one couneexample). Thu, he pecie amificaion of hee vaiable and ohe like hem ae lagely unknown. Pogeively moe advanced media echnologie will enhance he ene of elepeence in a wide vaiey of viual ealiie. Rapid advance in boh mulimedia compue echnologie and in high-peed daa newok haen he developmen of a uly global village, in which ou abiliy o ineac wih fiend, family, and ohe who hae inee milia o ou own will no longe be limied by phyical poximiy. Such viual communiie epeen one of he mo exciing apec of hee developing new media, a hey offe individual a mehod fo paicipaion in, ahe han mee obevaion of, he mediaed wold ha uound hem. The Inene, commecial online evice, and BBS have aleady begun o offe he ineacive capabiliie equied fo uch communiie o fom on a lage cale. 16 The developmen of inceaingly vivid media i likely o ocial epone o echnologie 15 Since ineaciviy and vividne ae uch ich concep, ome of he placemen ae omewha abiay, a hey eul fom diffeence beween media aco many diffeen dimenion. 16 See Rheingold, 1993, fo a gound-beaking in-deph dicuion of viual communiie and he faco undelying hei fomaion. communicaion c SRCT Pape #104 Page 20

21 Jonahan Seue Defining VR: Dimenion Deemining Telepeence fuhe expand hee poibiliie, hough he exac naue of he effec of hee change on he chaaceiic of inepeonal ineacion in hee viual ealiie emain an open (and facinaing) empiical queion. New media may gealy expand he abiliy o expeience elepeence in viual ealiie; howeve, hee new developmen ae alo ceain o enhance he poibiliie fo uing he media o manipulae and conol belief and opinion. Fuhemoe, a an inceaing popoion of mo individual expeience come via mediaed ahe han diec ouce, he poenially deimenal effec of uch manipulaion inceae exponenially. Regadle of he paicula medium ued, be i elephone, eleconic mail, online cha yem, compue-video confeencing, o immeive viual ealiy, all mediaed ineacion fall wihin he domain of communicaion eeach. Indeed, communicaion eeache ae uniquely uied o adde he pecepual, echnological, and ocial iue uounding new media echnologie befoe hey become poblemaic by building upon he leon leaned hough he udy of ealie media. Rahe han elying on enginee in laboaoie o deign he media yem of he fuue and hen waiing fo media behemoh o implemen and diibue hee new media, communicaion eeache have a eponibiliy o epond poacively by uing wha hey have leaned abou people and media o udy he concep elaed o hee developmen, o make pedicion abou hei poible effec, and o become involved in he deign and implemenaion of new media yem befoe hey ae iniuionalized. Rahe han waiing fo media induie o develop new offeing o be udied po hoc, eeache hould be pepaed o adde geneal vaiable and o look aco media while hei wok can ill have ignifican impac on deign and developmen of new media. I i hoped ha he definiion and dimenion decibed hee will faciliae he udy of viual ealiie in hi way. ocial epone o echnologie communicaion c SRCT Pape #104 Page 21

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