UDC

141.1:004

DOI

10.37482/2687-1505-V378

Authors

Oksana I. Elkhova

Dr. Sci. (Philos.), Assoc. Prof., Prof. at the Department of Philosophy and Cultural Studies, Ufa University of Science and Technology (address: ul. Zaki Validi 32, Ufa, 450076, Russia).

e-mail: oxana-elkhova@yandex.ru, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5052-5935

Abstract

The article dwells on the phenomenology of perception of virtual reality, which is understood as an entity temporally situated in being. It is emphasized that virtual reality originates at the moment of being’s self-disclosure to the entity as a result of human interaction with technologies that create sensory impressions. The article analyses the current state of virtual reality technologies, which are mainly limited to sound, video, and tactile sensations. An obstacle to the widespread use of smell and taste simulation in virtual reality is the problem of user safety. In the future, taste and smell digitalization will allow us to engage all exteroceptive sensations, making virtual experience more realistic. The author highlights innovative developments in this area. In virtual reality, the physical body remains significant and plays an important role in virtual perception. Despite substantial advancements in virtual technologies, the user’s perception in virtual reality stays closely linked to the physical body due to the active vestibular and complex proprioceptive systems. The author applies the theory of field behaviour to the virtual sphere, which opens up new prospects for understanding the user’s interaction with the virtual environment. The author’s concept of field behaviour in virtual reality is presented, distinguishing field interference between the real and the virtual, as well as superposition of the real and virtual components in human perception of virtual reality that are merged by the human brain into a single perception.

Keywords

ontology, virtual reality, phenomenology of perception, immersive environment, sensory perception, interference between the real and the virtual

References

1. Chalmers D.J. Reality+: Virtual Worlds and the Problems of Philosophy. New York, 2022. 505 p.
2. Ney А. On Phenomenal Functionalism About the Properties of Virtual and Non-Virtual Objects. Disputatio, 2019, vol. 11, no. 55, pp. 399–410. https://doi.org/10.2478/disp-2019-0005
3. McDonnell N., Wildman N. Virtual Reality: Digital or Fictional? Disputatio, 2019, vol. 11, no. 55, pp. 371–397. https://doi.org/10.2478/disp-2019-0004
4. O’Shiel D. Disappearing Boundaries? Reality, Virtuality and the Possibility of “Pure” Mixed Reality (MR). Indo-Pac. J. Phenomenol., 2020, vol. 20, no. 1. Art. no. e1887570. https://doi.org/10.1080/20797222.2021.1887570
5. Heidegger M. Sein und Zeit. Tübingen, 1993 (Russ. ed.: Khaydegger M. Bytie i vremya. Kharkov, 2003. 503 p.).
6. Hopkin B.C. Deformalization and Phenomenon in Husserl and Heidegger. Schalow F. (ed.). Heidegger, Translation, and the Task of Thinking. New York, 2011, pp. 49–69.
7. Elkhova O.I. Ontologiya virtual’noy real’nosti [Virtual Reality Ontology]. Ufa, 2011. 226 p.
8. Levine D.N. Sherrington’s “The Integrative Action of the Nervous System”: A Centennial Appraisal. J. Neurol. Sci., 2007, vol. 253, no. 1–2, pp. 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jns.2006.12.002
9. Skupień S., Kowol P., Nowak P. Tactile Feedback Glove Working in Virtual Reality. Pawelczyk M., Bismor D., Ogonowski S., Kacprzyk J. (eds.). Advanced, Contemporary Control. PPC 2023. Cham, 2023, pp. 282–291.
10. Niedenthal S., Fredborg W., Lundén P., Ehrndal M., Olofsson J.K. A Graspable Olfactory Display for Virtual Reality. Int. J. Human-Computer Stud., 2023, vol. 169. Art. no. 102928. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhcs.2022.102928
11. Karunanayaka K., Cheok A.D., Vedadi S. Digital Smell: Toward Electrically Reproducing Artificial Smell Sensations. IEEE Access, 2023, vol. 11, pp. 50659–50670. http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2023.3278093
12. Karunanayaka K., Johari N., Hariri S., Camelia H., Bielawski K.S., Cheok A.D. New Thermal Taste Actuation Technology for Future Multisensory Virtual Reality and Internet. IEEE Trans. Vis. Comput. Graph., 2018, vol. 24, no. 4, pp. 1496–1505. https://doi.org/10.1109/TVCG.2018.2794073
13. Naryshkin A.G., Gorelik A.L., Egorov A.Y. The Role of Vestibular Afferent Input in Systemic Interactions of Cortical Areas in the Human Brain. Hum. Physiol., 2012, vol. 38, no. 4, pp. 343–347.
14. Vega J.A., Cobo J. Proprioception. London, 2021. 166 p.
15. Ármeán O. Trust and Technologies of Sense. VR and Proprioception in Hamlet Encounters. Acta Univ. Sapientiae Communicatio, 2020, vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 1–12. https://doi.org/10.2478/auscom-2020-0001
16. Dubrovskiy D.I. Kiberneticheskoe bessmertie. Fantastika ili nauchnaya problema? [Cybernetic Immortality. Science Fiction or a Scientific Problem?]. Vzglyad, 25 October 2012. Available at: http://vz.ru/opinions/2012/10/25/604264.html (accessed: 12 May 2024).
17. Elkhova O.I. Virtuality Index: Philosophical Justification. Vestnik Severnogo (Arkticheskogo) federal’nogo universiteta. Ser.: Gumanitarnye i sotsial’nye nauki, 2021, vol. 21, no. 3, pp. 99–107. https://doi.org/10.37482/2687-1505-V106