Being There: Implications of Neuroscience and Meditation for Self-Presence in Virtual Worlds

Authors

  • Carrie Heeter Michigan State University
  • Marcel Allbritton Clinical Mind Body Therapist, Berkeley, California

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4101/jvwr.v8i2.7164

Keywords:

presence, meditation, neuroscience

Abstract

New discoveries in neuroscience show that the human brain and body work together to experience and evaluate emotions and thoughts and to create a felt sense of presence in the material (or virtual) world. The brain engenders (creates) bodily feelings that represent emotions and thoughts. By directing attention to present moment bodily sensations we experience embodied presence. Practicing meditation increases the capacity and propensity to experience embodied presence. Virtual worlds are experienced by the human system that is deeply grounded in bodily sensations. In this essay we explore the implications of neuroscience and meditation for designing and studying self-presence in virtual worlds. We explain how presence is a dynamic, ongoing internal process that is the active result of sustained directed attention.

Author Biographies

  • Carrie Heeter, Michigan State University

    Professor

    Department of Media and Information

    Michigan State University

  • Marcel Allbritton, Clinical Mind Body Therapist, Berkeley, California

    Marcel Allbritton, PhD., is a Clinical Mind-Body

Downloads

Published

2015-10-30

Issue

Vol. 8 No. 2 (2015): Futures

Section

Essays

License

The JVWR is an academic journal. As such, it is dedicated to the open exchange of information. For this reason, JVWR is freely available to individuals and institutions. Copies of this journal or articles in this journal may be distributed for research or educational purposes only free of charge and without permission. However, the JVWR does not grant permission for use of any content in advertisements or advertising supplements or in any manner that would imply an endorsement of any product or service. All uses beyond research or educational purposes require the written permission of the JVWR. Authors who publish in the Journal of Virtual Worlds Research will release their articles under the Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivative Works 3.0 United States (cc-by-nd) license. This journal utilizes the LOCKSS system to create a distributed archiving system among participating libraries and permits those libraries to create permanent archives of the journal for purposes of preservation and restoration. The publisher perpetually authorizes participants in the LOCKSS system to archive and restore our publication through the LOCKSS System for the benefit of all LOCKSS System participants. Specifically participating libraries may: