Margaret Watson
Assistant Professor, Department of Information and Media Science
Guest Researcher, Center for Advanced Visualization and Interaction, University of Aarhus, Aarhus, Denmark
watson@daimi.au.dk
http://www.daimi.au.dk/~watson

Believability in a virtual reality experience is strongly influenced by immersion. The concept of immersion exists throughout life in the form of passive interaction. One example is in the experience of reading a book of fiction. When reading a novel, one can become emotionally involved with the characters and the story line to the point of feeling present within the scenario. At such instances, the world of fiction becomes very real to the reader. The reader is immersed in the experience through interacting with the words of the book mentally and emotionally. This interaction does not correspond with the common VR definition of interaction, which denotes an active physical participation. However, on an emotional level, there is an interaction present. The interaction occurs between the author's words and the reader. This relationship is similar to the VR participant's experience with the graphics and audio of a virtual environment.

In working with the medium of virtual reality as an artist, I have attempted to create a work that expresses such an immersive experience. "Liquid Meditation", an art project created for the CAVE (CAVE Automatic Virtual Environment), explores the potential of using space and immersion to poetically communicate a philosophy. Design elements within the project originated from studies in communicating with space from the field of architecture. Within the project, the concept of immersion was, additionally, explored through reconstructing meditative videography and photographic experiences with water. These experiences and philosophies can, hopefully, be shared by immersants who interact with the water reflections and architecture in "Liquid Meditation".

Within my current work, I continue to focus on expressing abstract philosophies through immersion. However, I am, also, interested in enhancing the immersive experience through the additive components of physical and auditory interaction within real and virtual space. Exploration of the concept of immersion in "Liquid Meditation", previous projects, and aspects of my current work will be discussed.

References: Cruz-Neira, C., Sandin, D.J., and DeFanti, T.A., "Surround-Screen Projection-Based Virtual Reality: The Design and Implementation of the CAVE," In Proceedings of SIGGRAPH '93 Computer Graphics Conference, ACM SIGGRAPH, August 1993, pp. 135-142.

Watson, Margaret, "Constructing Virtual Space," In Proceedings of the 3rd International Immersive Projection Technology Workshop, Springer-Verlag, Heidelberg, May, 1999, pp. 201 - 209.