Abstract
In recent years, the presence of immersive virtual reality (VR) in everyday life has increased, and VR is also being studied in research. However, this research is essentially limited to technical issues, while the social relevance of VR remains largely unconsidered. Current social science research on VR remains bound to an empiricist paradigm; a theoretical framing is only done in exceptions. This article presents current social science theories related to space and landscape research, describes their application and potentials, with regard to the investigation of virtual spaces, and discusses which theoretical positions are suitable for the investigation of particular immersive VR-related questions. This investigation presents a range of approaches such as essentialism, positivism, and constructivism; theories such as critical, conflict, and discourse; and more-than-representational theories such as Phenomenology, Assemblage, and Actor-Network-Theory.
Highlights
In recent years, the everyday presence of immersive virtual environments (IVEs) has increased
In recent years, the presence of immersive virtual reality (VR) in everyday life has increased, and VR is being studied in research
Current social science research on VR remains bound to an empiricist paradigm; a theoretical framing is only done in exceptions
Summary
The everyday presence of immersive virtual environments (IVEs) has increased. The second basis is formed by theories discussed in current spatial and landscape research (Section 4) These form a solid starting point for a theoretical approach to virtual realities in relation to the construction of spaces. A discussion and framing that allows for other established basic scientific theoretical perspectives on immersive 3D landscapes has—with the exception of a few initial approaches to constructivism [6]—been lacking so far At this point, it seems worth taking a look at neighboring disciplines in the social sciences, such as human geography, which, in recent decades, have developed different theoretical perspectives on. Dealing with or constructing space that can be fruitfully applied to the study of (immersive) virtual environments
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