Metrics of Phenomenological Virtual Experience

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Abstract

This work is conducted within the framework of experimental philosophy and represents a comprehensive study that combines theoretical and practical aspects. It integrates a phenomenological approach with natural science methods to study the phenomenology of virtual experience. The research posits that virtual reality (VR) emerges only at the moment of the self-revelation of being “to the entity” as a result of human interaction with technologies that create sensory impressions. The author analyzes the current state of technologies producing virtual reality, with particular attention to proprioceptive sensations. It is emphasized that the physical body continues to play an important role in the perception of virtual reality, as VR technologies are not yet sufficiently integrated with the complex proprioception system of the human body. Furthermore, the vestibular system retains its functionality regardless of whether the user is in the real or virtual world. These factors indicate that the physical body remains significant; even in virtual reality, a person remains inseparably connected to it. The author’s concept of the field behavior of virtual reality is presented, opening new perspectives for understanding human interaction with the virtual environment. The author highlights the field interference of the real and the virtual, the superposition of real and virtual components in the perception of virtual reality by humans, combined by the human brain into a single perception. The result of the study is a constructed model of probabilistic dependencies between elements of immersion and metrics of phenomenological experience. This work contributes to the development of interdisciplinary research and is important for experimental philosophy, providing a methodological basis for the empirical study of philosophical questions and the analysis of complex interrelations between immersion and human behavior in virtual environments.

About the authors

Oksana I. Elkhova

Lomonosov Moscow State University

Author for correspondence.
Email: oxana-elkhova@yandex.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0002-5052-5935
SPIN-code: 1004-6360

DSc in Philosophy, Associate Professor, Professor of the Department of Philosophy and Cultural Studies

32 Zaki Validi St., Ufa, 450076, Russian Federation

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Copyright (c) 2024 Elkhova O.I.

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