Meaning and Emplacement in Expressive Immersive Virtual Environments JACQUELYN FORD MORIE A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the University of East London for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy September 2007 Meaning and Emplacement in Expressive Immersive Virtual Environments Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................ i Acknowledgements......................................................................................ii Artist’s statement .......................................................................................... v Statement of originality.............................................................................. vi List of illustrations in the text ................................................................... ix Introduction ....................................................................................................1 Clarification of terms............................................................................................7 Chapter 1 The emergence of Virtual Reality .........................................11 Introduction.........................................................................................................11 1.1 From defence to dream to discipline .........................................................11 1.2 Multivariate origins of virtual environments: a brief genealogy ...........15 1.3 A brief introduction to VR technology......................................................19 1.4 Speculation and effect: virtual reality prophecies....................................20 1.5 Expanding the vocabulary: From spectacle to art....................................21 1.6 Artists’ early use of the medium ................................................................22 1.7 Virtopia: a personal practice case study....................................................26 1.8 DarkCon: further discoveries in VE creation............................................28 1.9 Conclusions...................................................................................................35 Chapter 2 The creation of The Memory Stairs .......................................37 Introduction.........................................................................................................37 2.1 The design concepts for The Memory Stairs.............................................37 2.1.1 Physical installation description...........................................................38 2.1.2 Description of specific memories..........................................................40 2.2 Fate and future .............................................................................................45 2.3 Conclusion ....................................................................................................46 Chapter 3 The immersive virtual environment: A unique cybermedium ................................................................................................48 Introduction.........................................................................................................48 3.1 Medium and technology entwined............................................................50 3.2 What makes immersive virtual environments unique? ..........................53 3.2.1 Emplacement...........................................................................................54 3.2.2 Tracking embodied interactions ...........................................................55 3.2.3 Kinaesthetic and vestibular systems ....................................................59 Meaning and Emplacement in Expressive Immersive Virtual Environments 3.2.4 Sensory components: A gestalt palette ................................................60 3.2.5 Form of the VE work..............................................................................77 3.2.6 The real effects of the virtual.................................................................91 3.3 Conclusion ....................................................................................................93 Chapter 4 Being and immersive environments: Interaction, embodiment, and experience.....................................................................95 Introduction.........................................................................................................95 4.1 Forms of media and their interactions.......................................................96 4.1.1 Passive media..........................................................................................96 4.1.2 Interaction................................................................................................98 4.1.3 Immersion................................................................................................99 4.1.4 Involvement ..........................................................................................101 4.1.5 Presence .................................................................................................102 4.2 Phenomenology and the virtual...............................................................104 4.3 Embodiment ...............................................................................................108 4.3.1 Rethinking the body in the digital age...............................................108 4.3.2 The body emplaced within the virtual...............................................111 4.3.3 The isochronic structure of emplacement..........................................113 4.3.4 Representation: The imaged forms of embodiment .........................116 4.4 Bodily actions in virtual environments ...................................................123 4.4.1 Movement and navigation ..................................................................123 4.4.2 Agency ...................................................................................................126 4.4.3 Role playing ..........................................................................................128 4.4.4 Performance ..........................................................................................129 4.5 Narrative, meaning and experience.........................................................137 4.5.1 The primacy of experience ..................................................................138 4.5.2 Meaningful experiences.......................................................................141 4.6 Conclusion ..................................................................................................141 Chapter 5 The nature of immersive virtual space...............................143 Introduction.......................................................................................................143 5.1 Spatial constructs .......................................................................................144 5.1.1 Medieval space......................................................................................144 5.1.2 Cartesian space .....................................................................................145 5.1.3 Beyond measurable space....................................................................147 5.1.4 Cyberspace ............................................................................................148 Meaning and Emplacement in Expressive Immersive Virtual Environments 5.1.5 Other forms of space ............................................................................149 5.1.6 Immersive virtual space.......................................................................152 5.2 Space and place ..........................................................................................154 5.2.1 Creating place from space ...................................................................155 5.2.2 Entering virtual space ..........................................................................157 5.2.3 Experiencing virtual space ..................................................................157 5.2.4 The agency of space and place............................................................159 5.3 How space and place affect us..................................................................160 5.3.1 Emotional space....................................................................................163 5.3.2 Spiritual space.......................................................................................165 5.3.3 Humanistic space..................................................................................167 5.3.4 Aesthetic space......................................................................................169 5.3.5 Psychological or psychic space ...........................................................171 5.3.6 Gendered space.....................................................................................173 5.4 Phenomenological and semiotic space ....................................................174 5.5 Symbolic to mythic space..........................................................................175 5.6 Conclusion ..................................................................................................178 Chapter 6 Towards a design methodology for meaningful immersive environments ..............................................................................................180 Introduction.......................................................................................................180 6.1 General design