The aim is to gain insights from a diverse range of interdisciplinary literature to examine conceptual trends, discursive frameworks, the evolution of terminology & taxonomy, technological advancements, key authors and collaborations, methods of presence measurement, and the ways in which variables are managed.
How has presence in VR been defined, measured, and applied over time, across disciplines, fields, industries, authors, and institutions?
Combine bibliometric analysis with an extended qualitative content analysis of key papers, researchers, and institutions.
Examine conceptual trends, the evolution of terminology, technological advancements, key authors and collaborations,
Methods of presence measurement, and management of variables,
Explore the ways in which disciplines and fields are applying the concept of presence in their research and practice
Interdisciplinary collaborations: Examine which disciplines most commonly collaborate
Determine the overarching discursive framework for presence in VR
This review will provide a broad inter-disciplinary understanding of the phenomenon of presence in VR research that will inform further study designs and VR development. Searching across disciplinary boundaries will help researchers to learn from other disciplines, improve the sharing of results, and inform future development.
Inspiration for this review has come from the work of Pianzola et al. (2021) who brought together a range of interdisciplinary theoretical frameworks to draw lessons from each. From fields such as neuropsychology, cognitive narratology, empirical aesthetics, communication studies, and media psychology.
Pianzola, F. (2021). Presence, flow, and narrative absorption questionnaires: a scoping review. Open Research Europe, 1, 11. https://doi.org/10.12688/openreseurope.13277.1
Pianzola, F., Riva, G., Kukkonen, K., & Mantovani, F. (2021). Presence, flow, and narrative absorption: an interdisciplinary theoretical exploration with a new spatiotemporal integrated model based on predictive processing. Open Research Europe, 1.