Phenomenology of Virtual Reality Perception

Abstract

The article dwells on the phenomenology of perception of virtual reality, which is understood as an entity temporally situated in being. It is emphasized that virtual reality originates at the moment of being’s self-disclosure to the entity as a result of human interaction with technologies that create sensory impressions. The article analyses the current state of virtual reality technologies, which are mainly limited to sound, video, and tactile sensations. An obstacle to the widespread use of smell and taste simulation in virtual reality is the problem of user safety. In the future, taste and smell digitalization will allow us to engage all exteroceptive sensations, making virtual experience more realistic. The author highlights innovative developments in this area. In virtual reality, the physical body remains significant and plays an important role in virtual perception. Despite substantial advancements in virtual technologies, the user’s perception in virtual reality stays closely linked to the physical body due to the active vestibular and complex proprioceptive systems. The author applies the theory of field behaviour to the virtual sphere, which opens up new prospects for understanding the user’s interaction with the virtual environment. The author’s concept of field behaviour in virtual reality is presented, distinguishing field interference between the real and the virtual, as well as superposition of the real and virtual components in human perception of virtual reality that are merged by the human brain into a single perception.