Testing the Space of the Virtual

Abstract

Recently availed modes of mediated communication and perception, generally categorised as 'virtual experiences', have offered the designer of space a new array of spatial conditions to contend with. Each variety of virtual experience, from text-based discussion forum to immersive virtual reality environment presents challenges to traditional assumptions about space and its inhabitation. These challenges require design theorisation which extends beyond the notions of design within the virtual, or projected, space (the layout of the chat forum, the appearance of the virtual realm etc), and require a reconsideration of the entire apparatus of the mediating devices (the physical spaces which facilitate the interaction, the connection between them and the virtual space etc). This paper presents both an experimental framework for understanding the space of the virtual and outlines a current research project addressing these theoretical challenges through the spatial implementation of a synthetic environment.