Post 8: The Virtual Self

The Virtual Self is the eventual goal of the ongoing quest for pure transparency. Bolter and Grusin describe how virtual reality tries to get rid of remediation and attempts to immerse the viewer in a real world. They describe virtual reality as having 6 different dimensions of movement, as in film (although not controlled by the viewer) and in real life. But the virtual self comes into play for any publication.

For example, in a website, we need to think not just of our audience's ability to use the site, but also how they may identify with it. Perhaps having a more friendly, colloquial style of writing and a relaxed, inviting layout would help our audience identify with the site and its message. Though, some publications lend themselves more to this way of thinking. If we are designing a video game we may need to focus more on the virtual self than in text, but even in text it exists. We all know the feeling of being completely immersed in a good novel and become emotionally and mentally attached to the characters and storyline, even if we do not see everything from the main character's point of view in our mind's eye. I would argue that these situations have much more transparency than any 5-minute virtual reality session.