PRESENCE: the not-so-secret sauce of VR
Image by geralt 16967 immagini (Creative Commons Licence, unaltered)
JUNE 18TH, 2022
PRESENCE has a very particular meaning in virtual reality (VR). It describes the feeling of being completely immersed and present in a virtual environment. By comparison, any screen-based experience lacks the level of immersion that the word PRESENCE entails, because at any moment you can turn your head to look away from the cinema screen, TV set or computer monitor and instantly break the illusion of being there.
With VR this is impossible because the screens are attached to your head and so remain in front of your eyes no matter where you look. Look up and you will see the VR sky or ceiling. Look down and you will see the VR floor. The visual information changes according to how you move in exactly the same way as if you were really there. So your brain has no choice but to accept the evidence and accept it as real. When you are in a VR headset, you know that it is all just pixels and illusion, yet that illusion feels completely real. This is the root of the magic of VR.
In the context of a multiplayer VR experience, PRESENCE also encompasses feelings of genuinely being in the VR experience alongside other people. Again this is because not just the visual information, but also the sounds you experience, behave exactly as you are accustomed to in the real world. Move away from a person who is speaking to you and their voice becomes quieter. If you move closer again, the voice becomes louder. If somebody starts speaking just out of view on your right hand side the sound of their voice will be louder in your right ear than your left. You don’t notice the volume difference per se, but your brain uses this information to determine exactly where the person is in space, relative to you. Turn to face them square on and the volume of their voice equalises across each ear. When your vision says that person is straight ahead of you and the acoustic information tells you the same thing, you feel utterly and completely convinced that they are right there. You feel fully present in their presence.
PRESENCE has a huge impact on the generating social interactions that feel real. And real social interactions help us to feel connected to others in a way that improves both our physical and mental health. Even if you are only represented in the VR environment by a floating head and hands, with no body connecting the two, your ability to express yourself fully - with hand and head gestures, as well as voice - confers a significant advantage over what is possible in video conferencing on a flat screen.
PRESENCE is the secret sauce that makes VR interactions with team mates feel so much more convincing and rewarding than communication via smartphone or laptop screens. Until you try it, you’ll never be fully convinced. So what are you waiting for?
