The sense of presence: lessons from virtual reality
The sense of presence—or the sense of “being there”—is a poorly understood phenomenon, especially in the case of “unseen others,” e.g., God. We used the tools of virtual reality (VR) to explore the effects of active imagination in creating a sense of presence of an ambiguously real other. We found t...
| Authors: | ; ; ; ; ; ; |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Routledge
2021
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| In: |
Religion, brain & behavior
Year: 2021, Volume: 11, Issue: 3, Pages: 335-351 |
| Further subjects: | B
social presence
B Religious Studies B Presence B Virtual Reality B Prayer |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | The sense of presence—or the sense of “being there”—is a poorly understood phenomenon, especially in the case of “unseen others,” e.g., God. We used the tools of virtual reality (VR) to explore the effects of active imagination in creating a sense of presence of an ambiguously real other. We found that adding a visual representation was more effective than verbal language alone in evoking a sense of social presence in a ten-minute intervention, that a proclivity for absorption enhanced the sense of social and environmental presence, and that a sense of social presence was associated with a sense of responsive interaction. We present our data together with a critical analysis of the literature on perceptual presence and conclude by suggesting that presence is best understood as the product of a collaboration between a perceiving subject and the environment within which they are embedded. This study serves as an example of a novel approach that bridges different scientific literatures, methods, and disciplines to study religious experience. |
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| ISSN: | 2153-5981 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Religion, brain & behavior
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1080/2153599X.2021.1953573 |