Show simple item record

dc.rights.licenseCC-BY-NC-ND
dc.contributor.advisorde Vries, I.O.
dc.contributor.authorHopkins Brocq, J.A.
dc.date.accessioned2021-06-01T18:00:17Z
dc.date.available2021-06-01T18:00:17Z
dc.date.issued2021
dc.identifier.urihttps://studenttheses.uu.nl/handle/20.500.12932/39504
dc.description.abstractThe concept of immersion is fundamental to understanding the complexity of Virtual Reality (VR). Most of its definitions align with the idea of mental or bodily 'relocation,' of plunging into a virtual or fictional world or another individual’s experience. These definitions have given rise to theoretical approaches which assume that VR immersion requires a virtual world separated from reality into which the 'spectator' can enter. These discourses are embedded in the promise that virtuality can be the ultimate reproduction of 'reality.' However, they do not account for the nuances around the spectator's embodied location, emotions and memories. Therefore, I hypothesise that addressing VR as a remediation problem can guide the way towards an alternative theory of VR immersion based on the relational and fluid becoming of the 'real' and the 'virtual.' This theory suggests that immersion needs not to be defined as entering some other 'location' (place or body). Instead, different mediated and real entities interact during immersion, making it a radical and embodied transformation. This process gives shape to alternative ways of perceiving and constructing our experience of reality and normalcy. This thesis will examine two strings of thought articulated around media studies and theatre studies working towards this new VR immersion theory. To find commonalities and limitations, and propose new possibilities, interdisciplinary integration and intermediality will be useful methodologies. At its broadest, my research aims to contribute to VR theories understanding it as a technology of embodied transformation and a place of possibility.
dc.description.sponsorshipUtrecht University
dc.format.extent1077877
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdf
dc.language.isoen
dc.titleTransformative Immersion: An interdisciplinary theory of VR immersion
dc.type.contentMaster Thesis
dc.rights.accessrightsOpen Access
dc.subject.keywordsVirtual reality, interdisciplinary research, digital new media, embodied knowledge, onto-relationality
dc.subject.courseuuMedia, Art and Performance studies


Files in this item

Thumbnail

This item appears in the following Collection(s)

Show simple item record