Mediated presence

North, North and Coble observe that “the sense of presence in virtual and physical environments is constant and subjects have to give up the sense of presence in one environment (e.g. physical environment) to achieve a stronger sense of presence in the other one (e.g. virtual world)” (2002; 1075). This is based on subjective reports of presence by the participants in North, North and Coble’s studies, in which it was found that:

The subjective measures of sense of presence in the VE (virtual environment) increased gradually during each session. The subjective measures of sense of presence of the physical environment while attending the VE decreased gradually within and between sessions … This supports the theory that the total sense of presence is constant, and subjects have to divide their overall sense of presence between the virtual and real worlds (North, North and Coble, 2002; 1075)

Kim and Biocca classify these two processes, that of engaging with the virtual environment and disengagement from the physical environment as “arrival” and “departure” (Sadowski and Stanney, 2002; 792).

Immersion and engagement

One of the ways in which “mediated presence” has been conceptualised is as “immersion” (Carr, 2006; 54). Carr (2006; 53) refers to Lombard and Ditton’s division of this term into “perceptual immersion” and “psychological immersion”, where perceptual immersion is “the degree to which a technology or experience monopolises the senses of a user” and psychological immersion is the ‘mental absorption into the world’ (Carr, 2006; 54). Carr notes that in literature studies, this absorption into the world is seen as an uncritical stance associated with undemanding literature, whereas engagement “involves those portions of a text where extra effort or interpretive skills are called for, where external referents are sought”. Carr therefore considers both immersion and engagement as being important parts of interaction with games and states that they are mutually dependent. It is when a player moves constantly between these two states that are when games are at their most compelling (Carr, 2006; 55) and contribute to the experience of “flow” (Carr,2006; 56).

39 Flow

Flow is a concept originated by Csíkszentmihályi and describes a state in which attention is heightened, and goals, action and the environment are all aligned. Csíkszentmihályi describes flow as an optimal experience and as both enjoyable and productive (Järvinen, Heliö and Mäyrä, 2002; 20). Järvinen, Heliö and Mäyrä applied Csíkszentmihályi’s concepts to those of digital environments, particularly digital games (2002; 20 – 27) and listed the following from Csíkszentmihályi’s work as elements that are part of the experience of flow when interacting with games:

1) a challenging activity that requires skills, 2) the merging of action and awareness, 3) clear goals and feedback, 4) concentration on the task at hand, 5) the paradox of control, 6) the loss of self-consciousness and 7) the transformation of time (Järvinen, Heliö and Mäyrä, 2002; 21)

Not all of these factors apply to virtual worlds (unless they have a predominant gaming element). The “challenging activity that requires skills” only produces flow when the skills required develop in concert with the tasks demanded of the player/user; if the challenges are too great, the player will become frustrated, if too simple then the player will become bored (Järvinen, Heliö and Mäyrä, 2002; 22). Successful commercial games are carefully constructed to ensure that players are only asked to do that which is just within their skill range, whereas the case studies in this thesis indicate that virtual worlds demand much of their users from the start, and often the challenge exceeds their skill level. Similarly non-game virtual worlds lack the clear goals and feedback that are a defining characteristic of games (Begg et al, 2007), and this lack of clear instruction concerning what to do when in a non-game virtual world is a common complaint of gamers (White, 2008a). The paradox of control, i.e. the tension between game rules and genre conventions and the freedom to participate within those rules and conventions, is also an element that figures specifically within games.

The remaining characteristics identified by Järvinen, Heliö and Mäyrä (2002; 20 - 27) are relevant to the experiences of participants in both virtual worlds and games.

The merging of action and awareness

This is the aspect of flow in which the participant becomes so absorbed in the activity that they are no longer “aware of themselves as separate from the actions they are performing” Järvinen, Heliö

40 and Mäyrä (2002; 22). Järvinen, Heliö and Mäyrä (2002; 22 - 23) give the following characteristics of a game as prerequisites for the experience of flow. These are:

 The structure and tempo of the game,

 The aesthetic enjoyment of images and sound,  The consistency of the game world,

 Enjoyable social interaction,  Usability of the technology.

Another prerequisite suggested by this study is the extension of the body schema of the participant to incorporate that of the technology they are using so that there is no separation in the mind of the user between thinking of, and enacting, an action.

Concentration on the task at hand

For flow to occur the participant must be able to concentrate on the task at hand; other external distracting factors must be excluded. These disruptions can include:

 Inconsistency in the game world,  Usability issues with the technology,  An imbalance of risks and rewards,

 Poor camera control or views offered to players (Järvinen, Heliö and Mäyrä, 2002; 24).

To this could be added the avoidance of intrusions from the physical world surrounding the participant. Immersion requires not just involvement with the virtual world but also removal of attention from the physical (see above). Denying the participant the opportunity to ignore the physical will therefore reduce immersion.

The loss of self-consciousness

This refers not to loss of self, but the loss of the concept of who we are (Järvinen, Heliö and Mäyrä, 2002; 26). The prerequisite for this is a “feeling of union with the environment”, where the environment is not only the technological platform but also the other participants. This therefore includes communal practices especially the communicative and collaborative rituals that emerge within the user cultures of a multi-user environment” (Järvinen, Heliö and Mäyrä, 2002; 26).

41 The transformation of time

The transformation of time is not only a prerequisite for flow, but a consequence of it. Game structures often do not adhere to the normal temporal structures of narrative (Järvinen, Heliö and Mäyrä, 2002; 27). This together with the other factors mentioned above, (the loss of self- consciousness, the merging of action and awareness and the pleasurable nature of optimal experience) means that the participants’ awareness of time passing is also changed. Users of virtual worlds also often report losing track of time (Gilbert, 2009).

Flow and presence

The relationship between flow, immersion, engagement and presence is blurred, in that immersion is given as a constituent of a single part of flow by Järvinen, Heliö and Mäyrä (related to the concentration of the task at hand) and disruption of concentration reduces flow. For Carr disruption gives rise to engagement, and it is alternation between engagement and immersion that gives rise to flow. These are all factors to be considered, however, when examining the experience of virtual worlds, and these will be revisited at points throughout this chapter.