Coextensive space: virtual reality and the developing relationship between the body, the digital and physical space. (October 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Saker, Michael; Frith, Jordan
• Is Part Of: Media, culture, and society. Volume 42:Number 7/8(2020:Oct.)
• Page Start: 1427
• Page End: 1442
• Publication Date: 2020-10
• Subjects: immersion -- mobility -- presence -- six degrees of freedom -- spatiality -- Virtual Reality (VR) -- virtuality -- wireless VR; Mass media and culture -- Periodicals; Mass media -- Social aspects -- Periodicals; Wireless communication systems -- Social aspects -- Periodicals; 302.2305
• DOI: 10.1177/0163443720932498
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0163-4437

Abstract

Virtual Reality (VR) has traditionally required external sensors placed around a designated play space. In contrast, more recent wired and wireless systems, such as the Oculus Rift S (released in March 2019) and the Oculus Quest (released in May 2019) use cameras located on the outside of these devices to monitor their physical position. Users can now mark out a physical space that is then digitally tracked within their display. Once a play space has been established, users are alerted if they come close to breaching this boundary by the visual inclusion of a grid. Should this threshold be breached, the headset display shifts to an image of the surrounding concrete environment. We contend that physical space is increasingly being incorporated into the digital space of VR in a manner that meaningfully differs from older systems. We build our argument in the following way. First, the article explores how theories surrounding VR have implicated only a limited relationship with physical space. Second, the article introduces the concept of coextensive space as a way of understanding the developing relationship between the physical, digital and concrete reality enacted by current VR systems.