Analysing virtual landscapes using postmemory

Phil Ian Jones,Tess Osborne

doi:10.1080/14649365.2018.1474378

Abstract

Virtual environments are becoming ubiquitous, designed to do work in the material world. They are used within urban design, medicine, the military, entertainment and a wide range of other sectors, having increasing significance within our everyday lives. Virtual landscapes are brought into being through the interaction of users and these virtual environments. In this paper, we propose the use of postmemory as a framework for analysing virtual landscapes. Postmemories, formed of second-hand accounts combined with the imagination of individuals, can shape our responses to the world around us, having similar affective force to memories of situations directly witnessed. Twenty-five participants were asked to undertake an exploration exercise within a virtual recreation of 19th century London and subsequently interviewed about their landscape experiences. Individual position and imagination had a significant effect on participants’ understanding of those landscapes, creating postmemories of the material environment being represented, going beyond the intent of the designers. Given the forceful affective qualities of postmemory, however, the balance of power between designer intent and user imagination is demonstrated to be problematic, as individuals are manipulated through their exposure to, and co-creation of, these virtual landscapes.

Highlights

Virtual landscapes, like material landscapes, are a product of the interaction between observer and environment, even though virtual environments only exist as code within a computer
We propose the use of postmemory as a framework for analysing virtual landscapes
We suggest a framework for analysing these virtual landscapes, drawing on Hirsch’s (1992) notions of postmemory

Summary

Introduction

Like material landscapes, are a product of the interaction between observer and environment, even though virtual environments only exist as code within a computer. These virtual landscapes, emerge out of virtual environments that have been consciously designed to do different kinds of work in the material world. Architectural visualisations help planners and others understand the impact of a new development in an existing townscape. The work that the virtual environment is intended to do shapes the kinds of landscape experiences it can offer. The ways in which users interact with and co-construct these landscapes alters the capacity of virtual environments to do their intended job

Methods

Discussion

Conclusion