Being HERE on Earth? Being in TWO places? Feeling like something is next to you?
There are many, many definitions of presence and I think the best way to tell you is to SHOW you.
1. There is presence that has a social richness of people making connections with, let's say, Artificial Intelligent beings.
http://theegeek.com/artificial-intelligence/
2. Some say that presence is a type of realism. An example of this could be the Holodeck from Star Trek, where everything you are interacting is not actually REAL, it cannot leave the platform it has been created.
http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Coming_of_Age_(episode)
3. Presence is seen sometimes as a means of transportation using narration to suck you into another world. This can be seen when you are reading a really good book. I know that when I read the same book twice, or even a third time, I can still smell the smells from the first time and hear the same music I was listening to when reading it the first time through.
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/146718900333656795/
4. Presence can even be defined as immersion. You may think, "How much does this technology make me feel part of this world". If you are playing a video game, sometimes you can feel like you are more part of that world than you are in your own. If you think of virtual reality games where you wear a helmet, you can almost get lost in the game and feel a part of the virtual world. Which very well may be the future of gaming itself. With Wii coming out with the nunchuck and Kinect by Xbox, and the upcoming trend, Oculus Rift.
5. You can also see yourself as a social actor within a medium, where we feel we make real connections in the virtual world. I know sometimes I will play World of Warcraft with my boyfriend who is in the same room as me, but when I ask him to "come over here", he leads his character to stand next to my own. Really, what I was asking him to do was stand up with his physical body and walk over to where I was sitting in front of my computer. It is odd how technology can draw us in so easily and make us, in a way, confused of our own surroundings and seem so real.
6. Then finally, there is presence as a feeling that the medium itself is a social actor. The computer feels like it is real and everything inside of it.
All the above seems very complicated, and possibly overlap some. Well luckily Lombard and Ditton (1997) decided to clarify and narrow PRESENCE down to 5 separate definitions:
PRESENCE: The psychological manifestation of the self being projected into a mediated environment. AKA Any time I am playing World of Warcraft. I lose track of time, I sometimes feel dizzy when I had been sitting and staring at the screen, absorbed into the material and the constant switching between reality and virtual reality.
TELEPRESENCE: The ability of a technology to make you feel like you are there, again very similar to number 5. Having the full field of vision such as in a virtual reality type game, feeling the force feedback from the controller, surround sound, etc.
COPRESENCE: The ability to detect another quasi-intelligent being in the virtual landscape. For instance, in the Sims game or even World of Warcraft, being able to distinguish the difference between a REAL person and a NPC (Non-Player Character).
SOCIAL PRESENCE: The ability to form a relationship with a para-authentic actor or avatar, usually with a warm and personal interaction. An example of this could be a conference meeting where, instead of live video, you use an avatar to resemble yourself.
SPATIAL PRESENCE: The experience of a para-authentic self inside of a virtual environment. An example of this would be similar to telepresence, but a more in depth and even more real feeling. While using a virtual reality helmet, you would be able to look down and see your arms, and if you lifted one you would see that in the virtual world as you felt it in the real world. You also are able to have a perception of body space. This would be the future of gaming, Oculus Rift, as previously mentioned.
Now that we have a better idea of what presence REALLY is and since we were talking about avatars, let's move onto what avatars actually are.
Vorderer, P., & Bryant, J. (2006). Playing Video Games: Motives, Responses, and Consequences. New York, NY: Taylor and Francis Group.
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