Virtual Reality - Conceptual Clarifications

There has been a lot of technological development in the field Extended Reality, yet due to the fast paced progress it has been difficult to stay up to date in developments of the terms and framework for said progress. With much confusion caused by seemingly interchangeable terms, often used synonymously or as buzzwords in popular articles, this article reacts to the latest resurgence of interest in potentials of Virtual and Augmented Reality which contributes to a further veiling of the conceptual layers. Based on the lack of common grounds and understanding of used terms and implications for researchers and designers, I aim to contextualize the framework of definitions for virtual worlds, the commonly used terms describing technologies and technical features.

Techno-centrism vs. Experientiality

The essential concept of the virtual world directs towards the propensity of a techno-centric reality. But solely focusing on the technological aspect, technical features and use cases can be considered insufficient to describe the very core of this phenomenon. The other important aspect is experiential in nature, which creates a collaborative platform with the technological aspect to foster an application consensus of technology and experiences.

Any technology is an artifact within a wider milieu. Therefore, defining technology needs to include all activities and practices related to its usage and application. Every time we engage with a new technology, it changes the organizational form of social arrangements and everyday social experience, because it facilitates an encounter of a new, freshly established and reformulated terms of functionality. To define virtual worlds as a new techno-social environment, it needs to encompass enough room for further developments, allow flexibility to adjust the fast coming changes and maintain distinctiveness from other emerging technologies.

Conceptual (Un)clarity

While there are vast differences in use of the term ‘virtual world’ in popular articles, there are other terms that appear as its synonym, namely '3D immersive virtual environment’, 'cyberspace' or '3D internet’. They have a varying degree of popularity and each appears to fill a gap when it comes to the need to depict uniqueness of the technology. A problem appears when each of these terms are used to refer to the same technology, or when either of them refers to disparate concepts. When this happens, it results in conceptual devaluation and confusion.

So a definition, beyond underpinning necessary features of the technology, needs to balance change over time and accommodate specificity of a long-term value. And to complete a definition, the establishment of the virtual world within the wider context of the physical world needs to be made. In terms of technical features and user experience, there has been a fragmented understanding of what virtual is and what is not. There is a plethora of terms in use:

virtual world (VW)

virtual environment (VE)

immersive world

simulated reality

augmented reality

extended reality

synthetic world/environment

These terms are being used without conceptual clarity and it is not uncommon for the articles to use more than one term within a single article to describe one technological application. It points at an implicit connection of virtual worlds and related technologies, yet the inconsistency and definitional complexity calls for a taxonomy that would be explicit throughout the field.

Definitions in Context

The term ‘virtual world‘ is not to be used as a description of any online environment that allows users to interact. So far it can be described as a synchronous and continually perpetrated network of avatars (representation of selves) facilitated by a network of interconnected computers [1]. In fact, combined elements of definitions from the early 2000s [2], [3] suggest a key component that distinguishes virtual worlds from other forms of interactive online technological applications is the use of an avatar. While the former established meaning of an avatar is a static representation of the user, an avatar in a virtual world becomes dynamic, animated and possesses behavioral agency.

Another feature according to Webber (2013) is the economic ecosystem. Virtual world ideally has its own currency with fluctuating exchange rates against FIAT currencies. It can be used to purchase goods and services within the world as well as the real world and thus have a functioning interoperability with the physical paradigm. Yet, having a discrete economy is not a feature of all existing virtual worlds. Those that do, however, put an emphasis on creating open-ended ecosystems — which is characteristic mainly for non-game-based worlds — because it broadly raises the above mentioned interoperability with the real world ecosystems or ecosystem of other virtual worlds.

It is not uncommon that virtual world definitions and descriptions commonly focus on technical features. Yet the rationale usually rather shifts towards a combination of features that involve both the technical aspect and the user experience, for the virtual world provides a particular form of the UX that is linked to novel ways of how people perceive and experience each other and how they adapt to a new type of social interaction. There is a range of experiences that are subjective and depend on a number of factors that are oftentimes wrongly defined as ‘immersive‘. It is important to have a definition that is not too reliant on immersiveness because it takes away the spotlight on the framework and rather focuses on specific technical applications that the users need to engage with to have the immersive experience.

References:

[1] Bell, M. W. (2008). Towards a definition of ‘‘virtual worlds’’. Journal of Virtual Worlds Research.

[2] Bartle, R. (2004). Designing virtual worlds. Indianapolis, IN: New Riders Publishing.

[3] Castronova, E. (2005). Synthetic worlds. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.