Immersion vs. Interactivity: Virtual Reality and Literary Theory

Immersion vs. Interactivity: Virtual Reality and Literary Theory Author(s): Marie-Laure Ryan Source: SubStance, Vol.
28, No. 2, Issue 89: Special Section: Marcel Bnabou (1999), pp. 110-137 Published by: University of Wisconsin Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3685793 . Accessed: 10/07/2013 10:16
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vs.Interactivity: Immersion and Literary Virtual Reality Theory1

Marie-LaureRyan
Few of us have actuallydonned a HMD (head-mounted display)and and entereda computer-generated, DGs (data-gloves), three-dimensional wishessuch as experilandscapein whichall ofourwishescan be fulfilled: an of our and out ofthe encing expansion physical sensory powers;getting and ourselves from the a new outside; seeing body adopting identity; apimmaterial prehending objectswithmost of our senses,includingtouch; theenvironment either verbalcommandsor beingable to modify through physicalgestures; seeingcreative thoughts instantlyrealizedwithoutgotheprocessofhavingthemphysically materialized. ing through Yetdespitethefact that virtual as described above is stilllargely reality still sciencefiction, what it is called-a virtual is hardly largely reality- there : anybodywho does not have a passionateopinionabout the technology some day VR will replacereality; VR will neverreplacereality; VR chalVR will enable us to rediscover and explore lenges theconceptof reality; to drugsand sex;VR is pleasurewithout risk reality;VR is a safesubstitute and therefore VR willenhancethemind,leadingmankind to new immoral; new experipowers;VR is addictiveand will enslaveus; VR is a radically VR is as old as Paleolithic VR is a ence; art; basically computer technology; all forms of representation createa VR experience; VR challengesthedistinction VR is thetriumph offiction overreality. fiction-reality; We may have to wait untilthenextmillennium to see whether these and threats will be VR but since is materialized, promises technology deso and its it since exists picted realistically by prophets, verymuchin the we don'thave towaitthat theclaimsof popularimagination, longto submit its developersto a critical In I this investigation. paper proposeto analyze VR as a semioticphenomenon and to exploreits implications forliterary and the of theory question textuality.
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andLiterary Virtual Theory Reality

The Two Componentsof VR
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is thisdefinition by Pimenteland Texeira:"In My pointof departure virtual refers to an interactive the term immersive, experireality general, a While accounts ence generated (11). generated" "computer by computer" ofthedata,"immersive" and "interactive" character forthevirtual explain an of To what makes thecomputer-assisted experience experience reality. interact real to be able to a as is to feel surrounded world by it, apprehend thisenvironment. The withit,and to have thepower to modify physically leads to an effect known as of immersionand interactivity conjunction a as real simulated environment is defined or : "A virtual telepresence reality in whichtheperceiver (Steuer76). Telepresence experiences telepresence" relates to relatesto presenceas virtual : reality reality towhich inthe isthe extent one feels mediated enviTelepresence present
ratherthanin theimmediatephysicalenvironment ... This [meronment, diated environment] can be eithera temporallyor spatially distant real ... or an animatedbut nonexistent environment virtual worldsynthesized by a computer.(ibid)
oftelepresence, Steuer(78) proposesa combinaAnalyzingthedimensions tionof factors thatcome veryclose to Pimentel and Texeira'sformula: the sense oftelepresence is a function of thevividnessoftherepresentationwhichleads to immersion-and of interactive withtheelecinvolvement tronic display. I am primarily As a literary in thetwo components interested theorist, oftheVR experience as a novelway todescribe thetypesofreaderresponse thatmay be elicitedby a literary text.I propose therefore to transfer the and interactivity notionsofimmersion from thetechnological to theliterary domainand todiscusstheconditions oftheir textual While implementation. has been extolledby postmodern as thetriumph ofits interactivity theory own aesthetic ideals ofa creative an open text, and a ludicrelation to reader, immersion has been either or dismissed as the holdover language, ignored ofa now-discredited aesthetics ofillusionthatsubordinates languageto its and its of over the it is supreferent, ignores power configuration reality to this and posed represent. Through comparative studyoftheimmersive interactive ofliterature and VR technology, I hope topave theway potential fora more critical of the conceptof interactivity in literary investigation
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and a greater a rehabilitation ofimmersion, awareoftheexperience theory, that literature. of the medium ness oftheexpressive properties supports Immersion itsfactors Sinceimmersion are closelyrelated to dependson vividness, in representation. A factor thedevicesthat lead to realism thatcomesimmeofa three-dimensional display. The introdiatelyto mindis theprojection in paintingtook a first ductionof perspective step towardimmersion by a of that the into sense the creating depth integrated spectator pictorial the spectator is space. In a work like "Chair" by van Gogh, forinstance, situatedabove and to the leftof the depictedobject.But because the medium of painting simulatesdepth on a flatsurfacethe spectator cannot break through the canvas and walk intothepictorialspace. In the visual displaysof VR the barrier disappears-thereis no plane of projectionand the user feelssurrounded exby a virtualworld thatcan be freely in plored and "navigated,"as a standardmetaphordescribesmovement cyberspace. The creationof a 3D effect fallsunder a more generalcategory that Steuer(81) calls "depthofinformation." Thisdepthis a function oftheresolution ofthedisplay, i. e. oftheamountofdata encodedin thetransmission channel. As the othermain source of immersion, Steuer mentionsthe "breadthof information," a categorydefined as "thenumberof sensory dimensions Breadth ofinformation is achieved presented." simultaneously thecollaboration of multiple media: image,sound, olfactory through sigtheuse oftechnical devicesallowingtactile sensanals,as well as through tions(bodysuit).VR is notso mucha mediumin itself, as a technology for thesynthesis ofall media towarda totalexperience. Sheridan(58) proposesanother factor oftelepresence thatstandshalfbetween and immersion the control of the relation ofsenway interactivity: sorsto theenvironment. In orderto feelimmersed, theusermustbe able to move aroundthevirtual itundervariouspointsof space and to apprehend view.The computer tracks his movements and generates the sensory data in a to his The control position continuously corresponding shifting display. of sensorscan go as faras a leavingthebody,relocating thecenter of consciousnessintoforeign and in this and objects exploring way places objects inaccessibleto humans,such as the inside of a molecule,or the normally ofa distant planet. geography
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is "theblocking outofthephysical world" (Biocca Insofar as immersion if of the it be the user remains aware cannot 25), experienced physicalgenerator ofthedata, namelythecomputer.The "virtualreality effect" is the denial oftheroleofsigns(bits, pixels,and binarycodes) in theproduction as unmediatedpresence.It is significant that of what theuser experiences and Texeira title their first "The Pimentel chapter DisappearingComputer;" themediummustbecometransparent as in thetrompe-l'oeil ofillusionist art, world to emergeas real. VR represents in thisrespect fortherepresented thepersonification therefutation ofthecomputer ofa popularmyth: as an artificial and its autonomousmind(a myth fostered intelligence attempt by to endow machineswith creativethinking). As Brenda Laurel declares, as Theater] I have notarguedfortheperthisbook [Computers "Throughout but forits invisibility" sonification of the computer Lanier,a (143). Jaron of VR echoes: "With a VR don't see leadingdeveloper systems, system you thecomputer All is there and Biocca that's anymore-it'sgone. you" (Lanier theculmina166). The disappearanceofthecomputer- whichconstitutes tionofthetrend towardincreasing in computer user-friendliness designthereplacement ofarbitrary codes withnaturalmodes ofcommurequires nication. coded machine instruction oncegave way tothemnemonic Binary ofassembly letter-codes languages;assembly languageswerein turntranslatedintohigh-level that ofnatural lanlanguageswitha syntax resembling wordswere supplantedby themotivated guages. Then arbitrary signsof iconson thescreen. In theforeseeable themachine willbe enabledto future, and thekeyboard will becomesuperfluous. respondto spokencommands, Next to go will be thescreenand thesightof themachine:visual displays should occupy the entire fieldof the user's vision,rather than forming a world-within-the the frame of the moniworld,separatedfrom realityby D. Ofeisch tor. As Gabriel "as longas you can see thescreen, observes, you're not in VR. When the screendisappears, and you can see an imaginary scene...then and Texeira, 7). Lastbutnot you arein VR" (quotedin Pimentel mustdisappear, at least in thoseareas whereitcan be least,languageitself more efficiently Lanier, replacedby physicalactions.Accordingto Jaron ofcommunicating without codes...I'mtalking about "There'salso theability hands and their to createvirtual tools mouth, whatever, people usingtheir to changethecontent ofa virtual worldveryquicklyand in an improvisationalway" (160). "So, ifyou make a house in virtualreality, and there's in another there virtual the with have not createda person space you,you a a a made a house.It's symbolfor house or code for house.You've actually thatdirect of reality; creation communicathat'swhat I call post-symbolic
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tion" (161). For Michael Benedikt, thispost-symbolic communication siga era in nals thebeginningof "postliterate" which "language-bounddeand semantic scriptions gameswill no longerbe requiredto communicate historical information... We will events,or technical personalviewpoints, time with thepowerofsummoning becomeagain'as children' butthis worlds at will and impressing the others of our particulars speedilyupon experience" (12). In thislanguagewithout mindswill become transparsymbols, entto each other:
virtual likewriting andmathematics, is a waytorepresent Simply, reality, and communicate whatyoucan imagine withyourmind. Butit canbe morepowerful becauseitdoesn't require youtoconvert yourideasinto abstract with restrictive and syntactic semantic and itcan rules, symbols be shared andTexeira, 17) byother people.(Pimentel
The mystics ofages past (suchas Swedenborg, an esoteric philosopher oftheeighteenth had a term for this anti-semiotic mode century) radically ofcommunication. called it "the of the They language angels."2 Immersionand Literary Theory itsimmersive VR inaugurates a new relation bedimension, Through tweencomputers and art.Computers have alwaysbeeninteractive; butuntil now thepower to createa sense ofimmersion was a prerogative ofart.VR in thisrespect constitutes an attempt to put artintocomputer design.It is that when to describe the immersive significant attempting qualityof the VR experience, theproselytizers ofthetechnology turn towarda repeatedly borrowedfrom theliterary domain: metaphor
As [users] enter thevirtual their ofengagement world, depth gradually meanders hereuntil crossthethreshold ofinvolvement. awayfrom they Now they are absorbed in thevirtual similar to beingin an enworld, book. grossing The question thecreated worldis as realas thephysical isn'twhether butwhether thecreated worldis realenough for world, youto suspend fora periodoftime. Thisis thesame mental shift that yourdisbelief whenyougetwrapped happens up ina goodnovelorbecomeabsorbed inplaying a computer and Texeira, 15) game.(Pimentel
If developersofVR comparetheir to beingcaughtup in a technology theorists could profitably return the favorby regardingthe story, literary text as a virtual Even before theterm "virtual became fashreality. reality" a school of ionable,thisapproachhas been taken by literary theory inspired
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ofpossibleworlds.(Itsrepresentatives include concept bythephilosophical relieson a Eco, Pavel, Dolezel, Ryanand Ronen.)Possible worlds theory a plurality semantic model including ofworlds,and regarding one ofthese worlds as theone and onlyactualworld. The distinction actual/non-actual can be characterized in terms oforigin, or relatively, in terms of absolutely, theactualworld is theonly pointofview.In theabsolutecharacterization, of thehumanmind;merely one thatexistsindependently possibleworlds are productsof mentalactivities such as dreaming, wishing,forming hyand writing down theproducts oftheimagination in potheses, imagining, the formof fictions. VR adds to thiscatalog of "accessibility a relations" mode of apprehension thatinvolvesnot onlythemind,but also thebody. Forthefirst timein history, thepossibleworldscreated by themindbecome their lack of The relative characterizaentities, palpable despite materiality. tionof theconceptof actuality-advocatedby David Lewis-regards "actual" as an indexicalpredicate: theactualworldis theworldfrom whichI while thenon-actual speak and in whichI am immersed, possible worlds are thosethatI look at from theoutside.These worldsare actual from the of view of their inhabitants. This indexical definition point explains why fictional characters themselves as realhumanbeings,and notas the regard productsofa writer's imagination. the modes ofapprehension thatenableus to contemplate nonAmong actualpossibleworlds,some function as space-travel vehicleswhile others function as telescopes.In thetelescopemode -represented by expressing wishes or forming about what mighthave been-consciousconjectures ness remains anchored in itsnativereality, and possibleworldsare contemfrom the In outside. the mode, represented plated space-travel by fiction and now by VR technology, consciousness relocates itself to another world, and recenters the universearound this virtualreality. This gestureof involves no illusion, no forgetting ofwhatconstitutes thereader's recentering nativereality. Non-actualpossible worlds can onlybe regardedas actual through Coleridge'smuch quoted "willingsuspensionof disbelief." The readerof a fiction knowsthattheworld displayedby the textis virtual, a but she pretends thatthere is an indeproductoftheauthor'simagination, as referent to thenarrator's declarations. pendently existing serving reality The notionof pretense and therelatedconceptof games of make-believeis at thecoreofKendallWalton's offiction. toWalton, theory According a fictional text(as well as a painting) is a "propin a game ofmake-believe" ofselecting an objectand ofregarding itas (Mimesis, 11).The game consists in with other as a else, something usually agreement players.Just stump
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a ofa shipis takenfor game,thepicture maystandfora bear in a children's account for an account of real facts a is taken the text of novel and (an ship, narraas accurate, as thecase ofunreliable that mayormaynotbe regarded as members oftheworld in themselves tiondemonstrates). Playersproject a ship ora text abouttherealworld,and they which thepropis a bear, play consistsofimaginfictional truths."This activity thegame by "generating encodedintheprop.Some tothedirectives world,according ingthefictional or rathertheirfictruths concernthe playersthemselves, of the fictional truths of does notsimplygenerates tionalalterego. The readerofa fiction thatI believe p." And ifp but also "it is fictional the type"p is fictional" thatthereader'salter itwillbe fictional fateofa character, relatesthepitiful in make-believe in the The emotionsexperienced ego pitiesthecharacter. worldmaycarry overto therealworld,causingphysicalreactions fictional offiction ofWalton's suchas crying or tensing The affinity up in fear. theory in on of his insistence withvirtual and its immersion resides concept reality a in thefictional world.It is truly theory theparticipation oftheappreciator of"beingcaughtup in a story." has also been favored studAn immersive approachtofiction byrecent hisbook on thepsychology ies in cognitivepsychology. Victor Nell titles of in a Book. for Lost Another Richard reading pleasure psychologist, Gerrig, ofreading based on two metaphors, bothsupproposesa phenomenology reader-text the metaphors of transportaportedby concrete experiments: tionand ofperformance. an means of Gerrig experience By transportation, theimmediate and losingoneself movingaway from physicalenvironment in a story. Performance ofparticipating in thefictional is theactivity world "like an actoron a stage." In orderto achieveparticipation, readersmust "use theirown experienceof the world to bridge gaps in the text"(i. e. in Walton'sterminology); truths, generatefictional "bringboth factsand of theworld of the text";and "give emotionsto bear on the construction live of characters" substanceto thepsychological like "actorsperforming roles" (17). the workofthephenomenologists, authors Anticipating manyliterary to thephenomenon have giventhoughts ofimmersion. Conrad adJoseph vocates theparticipation of an extendedsensorium world: in thefictional I task which am to the written achieve of the is,by word, trying power "My to make you hear,to make you feel-it is, before all, to make you see. (Joxxvi.) Charlotte seph Conrad in thePrefaceto TheNigger oftheNarcissus, Brontidramatizesimmersion the readerto perform by inviting physical actionsin thefictional world:"You shallsee them, reader. Stepintothisneat
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ofWhinbury, walk forward in thelittle on theskirts parlorgarden-house at dinner...You and I willjoin theparty, are there see whatis tobe seen, they and hearwhat is to be heard" (Shirley, 9). In thispassage, immersivereada further than the fictional relocation ofthereader's inggoes step customary therelocated consciousness consciousnessin that an grows imaginary body thattakes up residencein the fictional world. For Bronti,fullimmersion the presence intheimagination thusrequires ofa physical worldtoa physical of this sense is not a to thetext, body.Reaching presence passive subjection but the resultof a demandingmentalactivity. Nowhere is thisdiscipline moreeloquently describedthanin thespiritual exercises to the prescribed readeroftheBibleby Ignatiusde Loyola:
Atthesimplest those theexercise wouldcalltomindthe level, practicing inwhich a given event took orwhatIgnatius called setting physical place, of theplace: forinstance, theroad from representation' 'an imaginary to Jerusalem on whichChrist traveled toward his passion, the Bethany roomin whichhe heldhis lastsupper, in whichhe was bethegarden thehouseinwhich hismother waitedafter theCrucifixion. trayed, Mary Within these said Ignatius, onecouldmoveto a sharper contexts, picture a senseofhearing: "listen towhat isbeing saidbythepeopleon byadding theearth'ssurface, to each other, and blaspheming." talking swearing Contrast withthewordsofthethree divinepersons of theTrinity, and listen to them as they abouttheredemption ofmansay: "Letus bring kind." After one can proceed to involve therestof seeingand listening, and tastetheboundless sweetness ofthedivinity. Touch and by kissing totheplaceswhere these walkand sit, to clinging persons alwaystrying 15) profit thereby." (Spence,
the inthe five senses actofmemory: "Smell the indescriptible fragrance
In thisreadingdiscipline, no mention is made of the actualwords of theBiblicaltext. Like computer-generated theories ofreadVR, immersive a relative the of medium. When readers are ing presupposes transparency in a turn the without too much attention caughtup story, they pages paying to theletter of thetext: what theywant is theplot,theleast language-decommunication. When theyexperience pendent dimensionof narrative forthecharacters, emotions do not relate to these characters as literary they creations noras "semiotic but as human constructs," possible beings. Theliterary that a senseofparticipation features create infictional worlds One ofthe present manyparallelswiththefactors leadingto telepresence. factors mentioned above is theprojection of a three-dimensional environment. Theliterary of a is narrative universe equivalent three-dimensionality possessingsome hidden depth,and populatedby characters perceivedas round rather thanflat.By hidden depthI mean thatthe sum of fictional
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statedin thetext. truths exceedsthesum ofthepropositions directly largely the user knows that as three-dimensional, In a virtualworld experienced a theoutside what be seen from not limited to can is position: given reality in theforeconcealstheback,and smallobjects concealstheinside,thefront in a narrative in the conceal background.Similarly, large objects ground is something behindthenarsome "hiddendepth"there worldpresenting and the have minds,intents, rated:the characters desires,and emotions, forits the content oftheir readeris encouragedto reconstruct mind,either behavior. The proceduresof inferown sake, or in orderto evaluate their in thecase of thereferents of to innerlifewould be inhibited ence relating novelswherecharacor in some postmodern humannames in lyric poetry Whenthereader actantial rolesorallegories. ters arereducedtostereotypes, inference becomelargely is nothing feelsthere procedures beyondlanguage, pointless. and the reader's sense of immersion As is the case in VR systems, Itis obviousthatdetailed ofthedepthofinformation. is a function empathy narration. a of lead to sense descriptions greater belongingthan sketchy This explains why it is easier be caughtup in a fictional storythan in a in communication-in But purelyverbal contrast to the newspaperreport. visual or auditory domains-depth of information may reachthepointof thelengthand minuteprecision and createan alienating effect: saturation as well as theirrestriction to purely of a Robbe-Grillet, of thedescriptions a greater thanthemost visualinformation, constitute deterrent toimmersion in ofinformation is notliterally laconicprose.Breadth since possible fiction, we are talkingabout writing and not about multi-media communication. theimagination, Butinsofar as itrelays sensations through literary language thevividnessoftherepredata to all ofthesenses,thusincreasing can offer It has been said thata book is "cinemain yourhead" (Fischlin sentation. : languagecan represent muchmorethanthat and Taylor13). It is in fact to of human theimagination theentire spectrum experience. thatseems at first Anotherfactor of immersion glance impossiblein of the sensors.The readeronly sees textualcommunication is the control shows. But to the extentthatthe (hears,smells,etc.) what the narrator the a mobility ofpoint offers sensations become narrator's reader's,fiction of a as thatof VR systems. The development of view at least as extensive to fiction-theomniscient, narratorimpersonal specific typeofnarrator theconstraints of pragmatically has freed fictional discoursefrom possible oftheimpersonal The disembodiedconsciousness humancommunication. thefictional worldfrom narrator can apprehend adoptany anyperspective,
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worldas focalizer, member ofthefictional selectanyspatiallocationas post in of observation, narrate everytemporal direction simul(retrospectively, and switch evenprospectively), backand forth taneously, amongthesevarious narrative likeVR, allows an experience modes. Fiction, ofitsreference worldthatwould be impossible ifthisreference worldwere an objectively material existing, reality. The ultimate in themovement freedom ofthesensorsis theadoptionof a foreign As Lasko-Harvill "invirtual we can,with observes, identity. reality with another and see ourselves ease, disconcerting exchangeeyes person and theworldfrom their This vantagepoint"(277). "exchanging eyes with is in another ofspeakingabout person" paralleled fiction by thepossibility oneselfin the thirdperson,or of switching betweenfirst and third when the same about referent. But an there is even more fundamental speaking betweenthe role-playing of VR and the natureof narrative ficsimilarity As authors themselves of their real world to enterthe tion. strip identity fictional of conworld,theyhave at their disposal thecompletespectrum ceivable roles,from the strongly individuatedfirst narrator (who person can be any member ofthefictional to the consciousness of the world) pure third omniscient narrator. person BothVR and fiction theability to transcend theboundariesof present humanperception. as VR systems enabletheusertopenetrate intoplaces Just inaccessible to humans interior a of cell or the surface ofMars), (the normally fiction the of what cannot be known: a can legitimates representation story be toldeven when "nobodylived to tellthetale."Of all thedomainsrepresentedin fiction, no one transcends moreblatantly thelimitsof theknowable thanforeign As Dorrit consciousness. Cohn observes:"But thismeans thatthespecial life-likeness ofnarrative fiction-as comparedto dramatic and cinematic and readersknow leastin fiction-dependson whatwriters life:how another mindworks, how another body feels"(5-6). The effacement of theimpersonal and his freedom narrator to relocate his consciousnessanywhere, at any timeand in whateverbody or mind ofunmediatedpresence: mindsbecometransparconveystheimpression themselves." The mobility of the "senent,and eventsseem to be "telling sors" thatapprehendfictional worldsallow a degreeof intimacy between the readerand the textualworld thatremainunparalleledin nonfiction. the reality of whichwe are nativeis the least amenableto Paradoxically, immersive and reports ofreal eventsare theleast likelyto pronarration, duce a feelingof being on the scene. New Journalism, to the scandal of tried to overcome this textual alienation from nonvirtual many, reality by
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The strain ofcredfictional real-world events techniques. through describing this be that from could ensued practice only forgiven by isolating ibility thetraditional brandof reporting thecomfrom New Journalism through label: TrueFiction, or Nonfiction Novel. In thetelevipromiseofa generic to the sion domain,theproliferation ofthe"docu-drama"bears testimony and "be there" to fiction-like not need to participation, voyeuristic enjoy in but also in historical events. worlds, only imaginary AgainstImmersion has not awaited theadventof The themeof thedangerof immersion theelectronic in Western literature. Itsmostcelebrated age tobe thematized victim is probably Don Quixote.As Cervantes writes:"In short, he so imin thoseromances he spentwhole days and nights mersedhimself that over his books; and thuswithlittle and much dried his brains sleeping reading, in up to such a degreethathe losttheuse ofhis reason"(58). Morerecently, shortstory"Continuity in a of Parks,"a readerimmersed JulioCorttizar's thriller becomesthevictim ofthenarrated thuspayingwithhis life murder, thedisappearanceoftheboundary betweenfiction and reality. Theoriesoffiction in worldsrepreemphasizing participation fictional senta somewhatreactionary trend on thecontemporary cultural scene.Imin a virtual mersion worldis viewedbymosttheorists ofpostmodernism as a passive subjection to theauthority oftheworld-designer, a subjection exoftourists in theself-enclosed virtual realities emplified by theentrapment oftheme toBolter, immersion is a tradeparksorvacationresorts.According markofpopular culture: world is the goal of "Losing oneselfin a fictional thenaive readeror one who readsas entertainment. It is particularly a featureof genrefiction, such as romanceor sciencefiction" (155). Thereis no thattheworldsofthestereotyped ofpopularculture texts pointin denying are themostfavorable to immersion: thereadercan bringin moreknowlthan in a textthatcultivates fulfilled a edge and sees more expectations sense of estrangement. But immersion can also be the resultof a process an elementof struggle and discovery. A literary textis themost involving when it lures the reader into what at first a hostileenvisatisfying appears ronment. The hostility ofcontemporary towardimmersion is due literary theory inlargepartto thedependency ofthephenomenon on thedisappearanceof mediumis heretic in an age thatresigns. The VR ideal of a transparent For postmodern whatgards signs as the substanceof all realities. theory,
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from ever"freedom their signs"themindcan reachis notachievedthrough but the of as well as disappearance, through awareness their omnipresence, therecognition of their and arbitrary conventional character. The through ofimmersion aesthetics is currently in beingreplaced-primarily "highculture"but the tendency is now stretching towardpopular culture-by an oftextuality. aesthetics must made be rolein theconvisible,fortheir Signs ofreality struction tobe recognized.A mode ofcommunication thatstrives towardtransparency of themediumbereavestheuser of his critical faculties.The semiotic blindnesscaused by immersion is illustrated an by anecdote involving Diderot.As William Martin "he tells us how he bereports, gan reading Clarissa several times in order to learn somethingabout Richardson'stechniques, but neversucceeded in doing so because he became personallyinvolvedin the work,thus losing his critical consciousness" (Martin58). According to Bolter, thisloss of critical consciousness is the trademark of theVR experience: "But it is obvious thatvirtualreality cannotin itself sustainintellectual or cultural development....The problem is thatvirtualreality, at least as it is now envisioned, is a mediumof perthansigns.It is virtual television" (230)."Whatis notappropriceptsrather ate is theabsenceofsemiosis"(231). In reducing VR to passive immersion, Bolter however, ignoresthesecond component oftheVR experience. Ifcontemporary artand literature are to achieve an enhancement of thereader's creativity, it should be through theemulation oftheinteractive thesummary aspectofVR,and notthrough condemnation ofitsimmersive power. Interactivity is notmerely theability to navigatethevirtual world,itis Interactivity thepower oftheuserto modify thisenvironment. the and sensors Moving freedom of movement in do not themselves an ensure interactive enjoying relation betweena user and an environment: theuser could deriveherentire satisfaction from theexploration ofthesurrounding domain.She would be activelyinvolved in the virtualworld,but her actionswould bear no interactive thevirtual worldmust lastingconsequences.In a truly system, to the user's actions. respond While thestandardcomparison forimmersion derivesfrom narrative themostfrequently used metaphor ofinteractivity invokestheatrifiction, cal performance. The similecapturesa largely utopiandreamof dramatic art:putting on and them intocharacters: spectators stage turning
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with ofinteraction intheworldofcomAs researchers thenotion grapple sometimes usersto theatrical audiences: puting, compare computer they whoareabletohavea greater Usersarelikeaudience members influence on theunfolding oftheaction thansimply thefine-tuning provided by audience Theusersofsucha system arelikeauconventional response... diencemembers who can march up ontothestageand becomevarious theaction roles. characters, (Laualtering bywhat sayanddo intheir they rel,Computers, 16)
The interactivity of a VR systemresidesin a formof representation knownas simulation. As Woolley observes(44),thedifference betweenrepand simulation, orrather, resentation thedistinction ofsimulation from other formsof representation to define, is difficult but it is (such as imitation) crucialto theunderstanding ofVR. The essenceofsimulation residesin its Friedman character. calls simulation a witha (86) dynamic "map-in-time" dimension.Butthisfeature narrative oftemporality, whichenablessimulativesystems to represent is notsufficiently distincchangeand movement, tive:a cameracan also record and a narrative, change yield thoughit does notproducea simulation. The difference betweena movieand a computer simulation ofthesame process, such as an airplaneflight, lies in theactive role ofthesystem. A camerarecordsa flight and theflight takes passively, of its if it even was for a movie. Once place independently recording, staged theflight can be playedoverand overagain and remain thesame: recorded, is theessenceofcinematic In contrast to a camera, iterability representation. a computer simulation does notreproduce a preexisting notdoes it process, is theproduct ofthesimulator, and every outputa durableimage.The flight use of thesystem a different of It events. would takea produces sequence device to the same The ofthesimularecording replay flight. non-iterability tionderivesfrom thefactthatchangeand movement are calculatedby the on thebasis ofa variableinputproducedbyan external such source, system as a random-number or human In user. this latter the simucase, generator lationbecomesthenarrative oftheuser's pursuitofa personalgoal in colwiththesystem. Successor failure laboration depends on theuser's underof of the the laws virtual world. standing An important oftheinteractivity feature ofsimulative is itssosystems called "real-time" dimension. The timing of the inputis of crucialimporstate.(Think tance,sincetheresponseofthesystem depends on itscurrent ofthedifferent an airplanedownwardswhenyou consequencesofsteering areup in theskyorcloseto theground!) Because simulation operatesin real
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In oftheuseris thatofa continuously theexperience time, movingpresent. retdoes not simulation to traditional contrast narrative, represent history a plotwhenall eventsarein thebook,butgenerates fashioning rospectively, Theusermayhave oftheoutcome. without events knowledge prospectively, tellsthe The traceofthesimulation a goal,buttheinputcan missthetarget. of in the of her the user the tribulations of goal. pursuit story a simulative is nota narrative but a Takenas a whole,however, system ofa Paths"-to parodythetitle matrix. Like a "GardenofForking narrative that could is to all the histories shortstory develop out by Borges-it open can also be comparedto an alphabetconThe system of a givensituation. is the while the simulationitself tainingall thebooks on a given subject, in the ofa potential actualization book,a book thatvanisheswhen writing completed. ofa variety ofa VR system is a function The degreeofinteractivity that thelistis without three ofthem, Steuerenumerates offactors. claiming : exhaustive
canbe assimilated into the which totherate atwhich refers input [S]peed, ofpossibilities which refers to thenumber mediated environment; range, at anygiventime; which to theability ofa for action and mapping, refers in themediated in a environment to map itscontrols to changes system and predictable natural manner. (86)
The first ofthesefactors little The speed ofa sysrequires explanation. temis what enables it to respondin real timeto theuser's actions.Faster and moreactionsmeanmorechanges.(Existresponsemeansmoreactions, in because of hardware are somewhatdeficient limitations, ing systems, thisdomain.Withcurrently availableHMDs, thegeneration ofvisual data is said to lag annoyingly behindthemovements of thehead.) The second factor is equallyobvious:thechoiceofactionsis likea setoftools;thelarger The factor ofmappingimposes theset,themoremalleabletheenvironment. constraints on thebehaviorofthesystem. Insofar as "mapping"is defined in termsof naturalresponse,it advocates the disappearanceof arbitrary codes. Far from semiotic transbeing associatedwithpassive immersion, VR is conceived a as to facilitate parency developers by way interactivity. oftheresponsedemonstrates The predictability theintelligence ofthesystem. The user mustbe able to foresee to some extent theresultofhis gesotherwise and not intent-driven actures, theywould be pure movements tions.Iftheuserofa virtual ball he wantsittoland on hitsa golf golfsystem
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the ground,and not to turnintoa bird and disappear in the sky.3 On the otherhand,thepredictability ofmoves shouldbe relative, otherwise there would be no challengein using the system. Even in real life,we cannot calculateall theconsequencesofour actions.Moreover, conpredictability withtherangerequirement: flicts iftheusercould choose from a repertory ofactionsas vast as thatofreallife, thesystem would be unable to respond most forms to ofinput.The coherence offlight-simulation intelligently profrom thefact thattheyexcludeany choiceofactivgramsstemforinstance to flying. a compromise beityunrelated Meaningful interactivity requires tweenrangeand mappingand betweendiscovery and predictability. Like a shouldinstill an element ofsurprise in the good narrative plot,VR systems fulfillment ofexpectations. The caveat of putting on stage is thatiftheytakecontrol of spectators theaction, theresulting become chaos. The utter performance may participation of users is both pursued and feared:"The problemwiththe audiidea is thatitadds to theclutter, bothpsychologience-as-active-participant cal and physical"(Laurel,Computers,17). The spectator is welcomeon stage In orderto maintain manner. onlyifhe can be made tobehavein an orderly somedramatic the must a on thespectator's value, performance impose script a script thatwillchannelhis actionstowarda goal sanctioned participation, As Laurelargues: "The well designed[virtual by thesystem. world] is,in a sense,the antithesis of realism-the antithesis of the chaos of everyday life"(quotedby Pimentel and Texeira, the 157).Howard Rheingoldstresses need for"scenariocontrol": "They[VR developers]want a world thatyou can walk aroundin,thatwill reactto you appropriately, and thatpresents a narrative structure for to Is this a ? Can (307). you experience" utopiangoal the spectator turnedactorbe coaxed intotakingactionsthatwill give her of her own deeds? This goal is pleasure,when she doubles as spectator in to achieve the visual domain: the repertory of elements relatively easy controlled by the user-colors, shapes, and movements- can be so thateverycombination in a pleasantexperience. results preharmonized, Additionalpleasure will be derivedfrom the display through controlling a in taken the creative physicalgestures: pleasure power ofthebody itself. But coordinating theuser's inputin a narratively structure is meaningful muchmoredifficult thanharmonizing visualelements. Itis inveryrestricted domainsregulated defined"narrative" simulaby narrowly scripts(flight to therequirements of tors, golf, paddle ball,etc.),or in areas notsubjected narrative or visual data with sound (visual logic displays, systems combining
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beachievethemostsatisfactory and dance) thatVR systems compromise and system control. tweenuserfreedom and Literature Interactivity theconcept ofinteractivity can be interpreted in two In textual matters, and literally. Each of thesetwo interpretations may in ways: figuratively form: turnbe divided intoa weak and a strong Literal Figural Weak Classicalnarrative Hypertext Drama texts Postmodern MOOs, Interactive Strong 1. Figural interactivity standsforthecollaboration between In thefigural sense,interactivity in theproduction ofmeaning. Even withtraditional thereaderand thetext and expository texts-textsthatstrive towardglobal cotypesofnarrative is nevera passive herenceand a smoothsequentialdevelopment-reading I have mentioned above the to the"mental discipline experience. necessary that Kendall Walton calls simulation" it) (as ["Spelunking"] opens thedoor Roman Ingardenand his disciple As the phenomenologist to immersion. mental Iser have this simulation shown, requiresa construction Wolfgang worldthrough whichthereaderprovidesas muchmaterial ofthefictional Ifit takesdiscipline as she derivesfrom a mentalimageof thetext. to form an thefictional to convert the world,ittakes even moredemanding activity flowof language intoa spatialconfiguration of meaning.As the temporal critic JeanRoussetwrites:
in order which toachieve takes should, placeovertime, Reading, totality, work inallparts. Theexacting renders the reader's present simultaneously in reversing ofthebookso that thenatural itwill job consists tendency all atoncetothemind's canbe no complete itself readpresent eye.There thebookintoa simultaneous does nottransform network ofreingthat (139) ciprocal relationships.
ofthereadingexperience Buttheinherently interactive nature has been obinperforming scuredbythereader'sproficiency thenecessary world-buildWe are so used to playingthefictional game thatit has being operations. we takeit forgranted come a second nature:as "nativereadersof fiction" thatworlds should emergefromtexts.This explainswhy postmodernist in theconstruction activereader involvement topromote ofmeanattempts of take the form self-referential As demystification. Linda ing usually is always an actively "Thereaderoffiction Hutcheonwrites: presmediating
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is established ence; the text'sreality by by his responseand reconstituted his activeparticipation. The writer fiction ofnarcissistic makes the merely readerconsciousofthisfactofhis experience" (141). The price of thisconsciousnessis an ontologicalexpulsion fromthe world.Insofar fictional as itclaimsthereality ofitsreference world,fiction its own denial fiction. as the implies By overtly recognizing constructed, natureofthetextual reclaims our "nativereworld,metafiction imaginary center. The implicit ality"as ontological message"thisworldis theproduct oflanguage" is notan invitation to make-believe, itis literally true.Butthe reader'sinterest is difficult in theabsenceofmake-believe. to maintain The mostefficient for an of awareness the mechanisms of strategy promoting is not to block access to the fictional world,but to engage the fictionality readerin a game ofin-and-out: now thetext thereaderin thenarcaptures it rative now bares the of now thetext buildsup suspense; artificialityplots; theillusionofan extratextual now it the textual referent; exposes originof thisreferent. Shuttled back and forth betweenontological levels,thereader comesto appreciate thelayeredstructure offictional a laycommunication, ered structure which he is both narratorial audi(in make-believe) through ence in thefictional audiencein therealworld.One of world,and authorial themostsuccessful is John Fowles's examplesof thisgame of in-and-out The French Lieutenant's Woman. The fictionalworld may be eventually as a textualconstruct, demystified yet the textsucceeds in creatingan immersive At times reader the thecharacters as human experience. regards and an invests emotional in interest theirfate,at othertimeshe is beings made to acknowledgetheir statusas literary It is thememory creations. of theimmersive of the text that his critical faculties the power engages during self-reflexive moments. The objectof the reflexive is as much the activity as theartificiality of fictional worlds.We may phenomenonof immersion call interactivity this switch in perspective fromworld-internaland immersive to world-external and reflexive. Underthisinterpretation, periodic de-immersion is essential to the"tilting game"4ofinteractive reading. 2. Weak literal interactivity betweentextand readercan onlybe literal ifthetextunInteractivity the The reader mustpardergoesphysicalchangesduring reading process. in material the ofsigns. ticipate production A weak form ofliteral is foundin hypertext. As thereader interactivity selectsthedirection to followby activating one ofmanypossible links, she determines the sequentialorderof her reading.As Bolterobserves:"The
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in themakingofthetext as a sequence ofwords" (158). readerparticipates of network traversal oftheunderlying Ifwe equate "text"to one particular linksand lexias,thenindeed everyreadingsession generatesa new text, In thisview,"text"is not and thereadertakesan activepartin thiswriting. betweena mind a staticcollection ofsignsbut theproductofan encounter from theact ofreadis indissoluble and a set ofsigns.Iftheconceptoftext is a concrete of the metaphorforthe ing, physicalinteractivity hypertext mentalinteractivity path of promoted by all texts. Whileeveryparticular to the screen different a network brings navigationthrough hypertextual texthighlights chunksof text, readingof a non-electronic everyparticular a web of and creates different links different different images, episodes, a is notmerely meaning.This analogypresupposesthattheact of clicking a with but either reasoned material consequences, gesture purely physical action,or the stimulusofmentaloperations. Clickingis a reasonedaction thereader's decisionto pursue thereadingin a relawhen it implements It stimulates mentalactivity when thereader, direction. tivelyforeseeable after randomchoice,applies his sagacityto thedetecmakinga relatively betweenthelinkedelements. tionofsome kindofsemantic relation In thisinterpretation thedifference of interactivity, betweenthereadand traditional texts is morequaningexperience promoted byhypertext by an intensification thanqualitative. offers and heightened titative Hypertext that Nabokov calls "combinational awarenessofthekindoftextual pleasure a to and he relates the "links of bobolinks" tracing delight"(69): delight In of arebirds.] theabsence thedirectionality (63). [Bobolinks imposedby a it is hoped thatthereaderwill wanderforpleasure dominating story-line, the textual space. No longerdistracted through by theplot,she will devote As Bolterwrites:"A printed moreattention to textualarchitecture. book's for naturalorderprovidesthefoundation thearchitecture ofthetext, butan all reference" electronic textis all architecture, (160). Buthow,theskeptic ? To whichthe stand a can this architecture without foundation ask, may textual is not theorist architecture might reply: supposed tostand. hypertext ofmetaphorical not a Itis a dynamic structure monurelations, time-defying ment. if we define ofhypertext The interactivity appearsmuchmorelimited of thismental "text"as a sum of possiblereadings.The physicalcorrelate to thewritten thecommonsourceof definition signsthatform equates text mean thatthetextis the thiswould thereadings.In thecase ofhypertext, of linksand of textualnodes. Accordingto thisview,the entirenetwork is nota powertochangetheenvironment, of as is the interactivity hypertext
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a personal a freedom tomovethesensorsfor butmerely case in VR systems, The reader chose in which order she visits the but nodes, exploration. may how No matter theconfiguration ofthenetwork. her choicesdo notaffect far the readerrunsthemaze, themaze remainsthesame, and the author, Some of the remains thehiddenmaster from system. relinquishing authority, but thereaderhas takenthem, mayerasecertain pathwaysafter hypertexts theverybeginning. intothetextfrom oflinksis programmed thispruning ifthehypertextual theenvironment The reader'sactionscould onlymodify an text in as real time, intelligent responseto thereader's system generated decisions.As I have arguedabove, thisis whathappens in simulative systems.The computercalculatesthe positionof the plane accordingto the a pre-calculated This will not thandisplaying rather user's input, position. it with until in until forces happen hypertext joins AI-and AI sharpensits capabilities. story-generating In thedomainofinteractivity, thusscoresa smalladvantage hypertext but itsinteractivity over traditional is achievedat thecostofimmertexts, text sion.Becausemoving acrossan electronic involves muchmorefrequent, and ofthereader'sbody moreextensive, muchless automatic interventions "in the thanturning thepages ofa book,and because thetext displaysitself it face"ofthereader, as a visuallyaggressive of on the screen, pattern pixels is hard to forget the words to the its physicality. fictional Movingthrough thanin familiar worldthusbecomesmuchmoreproblematic texts. print This problemmay disappearwhen we become moreused to reading on a screen, butother obstaclesstandin theway ofimmersion. Formanyof in us notyetschooled theparallelmode ofthinking, thedistraction offered and the is the screen, flickering by keyboard display compoundedby percreatedby thebranching The constant need to make deciplexity system. sions preventsthe concentration necessaryto immersivereading.What Gareth Rees writes ofhis experience oftreefiction ofhypertext in (a variant which each branchdevelops separately, withoutpossibility of return to a visitednode) is even moreto the pointin the case of a more previously "I think thatas readers network: we arenotreadyfortreefiction: I complex I a I know thatwhen read such story,wantto findout all theconsequences thattheauthorwrote, ofeverydecision,to read everything thatall fearing is in branch theinteresting on another of the that developments going story I didn'tinvestigate. I want to organizethewhole story in mymind." The worldwould have personain thefictional body of thereader's imaginary to takeall theroads at thesame time,and to to undergoa dismembering
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of missingsomething overcomethenaggingfeeling along the way. Can a thehypertextual body) exKeep describes "corpsmorcel'" (as Christopher all of its or does immersion immersion requirea parts, through perience sense ofphysicalunity? and character is the fragmented Still anotherobstacle to immersion ficavailable forms of of mostcurrently hypertext apparentdiscontinuity sends thereaderto a new, tion.The linkis a jump,and each act ofclicking timeto make oneselfat It takes island. isolated textual always relatively to growrootsin thefictional home in a text, world,to visualize thesetting, In his novel and their motivation. with the characters oneself to familiarize of Italo Calvino allegorizesthe difficulty a Traveler, Night If On a Winter's a other in of dozen the narrative the immersion beginning by embedding a fewpages-just as thereader after novelswhichare brutally interrupted world.In Calvino's novel, beginsto develop a sense ofplace in thefictional inhypertext, thethreat at theend ofevery stranded thereaderis left chapter; occurswitheverychangeofscreen. ofuprooting envian immersive The bestway to maintain qualityin a hypertextual of choices be to make the results it to would seems me, ronment, reasonably shouldbe in VR,so thatthereaderwould learnthelaws as they predictable, at finding hisway evenin new territory.5 ofthe maze and becomean expert he maybe caughtin a specific Butifthereader becomesan expert navigator, a mode of and revert to linear reading.The readersofhypertext story-line maintaina basic freedom to fight the enjoyedby all readers:the freedom to read itagainstthegrain. As Robert Coover observes:"One will feel text, and principles theneed, even while usingthesevast networks ofrandomas ness and expansive storyline,to struggle just one now againstthem, the constraints of the linear strugglesagainst printedbook" (quoted by "Rhizomes,"119).Some of the readersof Michael Joyce's Moulthrop, hynovel included-are indeed driven the desire pertext Afternoon-myself by ornotthenarrator's to findoutwhether ex-wife and son have been killedin an accident.6 In this"reading theplot,"we pretend that for there is one world, onehistorical and oneanswerto thehaunting sequence offacts, question. It would be preposterous to pass a global judgmenton the intrinsic meritof hypertext: whether themaze is experienced as a prisonor as the the the and on thedisposition to freedom on of text of depends key quality Like all technological it thereader. is onlyin infancy. inventions, Hypertext we cannotimagineat thistime.ButI would like may develop in directions theimmersive to advance a generalpronouncement power-or concerning lack thereof-ofthegenreas it is conceivedtoday.We are told thatthees#89, 1999 Substance
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is an awarenessof sence oftheaesthetic experience generated by hypertext in thesystem. theplurality can only ofworldscontained Sincethisplurality a pointof view external to any oftheseworlds,the be contemplated from of the multidimensionality of hypertext is incompatproperappreciation Ifhypertext is to carve a durablenichein the ible withimmersion. fiction it will have to demonstrate thattextualpleasurecan be literary pantheon, from immersion. emancipated it should allow theactual For interactivity to reachits strongest form of The of the reader" advocated by "empowerment production signs. can onlybe morethana sloganifitinvolvesthepower postmodern theory to use language. In some hypertextual systems-such as RobertCoover's the Hotel-the user is encouraged to add new MOO, literary Hypertext that materials becomea permanent of ofinterpart thesystem.In thisform activecreation, the user is the the world from however, creating fictional external of theauthor. She alternates betweenreader-role and perspective and interactivity, between immersion rather thancombining them writer-role, in themythical "wreader"experience. can onlybe reconciled withimmersion iftheuser's input Interactivity countsas participation and as action inthefictional world.Thisperformative dimensionrequiresa dramatic Brenda Laurel and JosephBates are setup. at work on a form VR of as Interactive (known Drama) in which currently theuserwill play a character in a fictional worldand influence thedevelopoftheplotthrough ment herspeechand action.7 textual forms Amongpurely of communication, thosethatcome theclosestto merging the two dimension oftheVR experience are thereal-time multi-users role-playing games known as MUDs or MOOs.8 (I will ignoreherethe technicaldifference betweentheseacronyms and refer tobothenvironments as MOOs.) In these the user creates her own character its textual games, byposting description. Once investedwitha make-believe in thefictional world,theuser identity character from theinside.She encounters playstheroleoftheimpersonated otherusersplayingothercharacters, and theyengagein a dialogue in real time.Mostcontributions are speechacts(x says),butthesystem also allows theperformance ofphysical actionsand even thebuildingofvirtual objects. As ElizabethReid writes: "On [MOOs], text and has even replacesgestures becomegesture itself" named Fredtypes (167). Ifa userplayinga character the win"pose (or any othercode-wordforphysicalaction)fliesthrough an observer of Fred dow," thisdoes not countas thedescription by flying
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thewindow,but as theperformance by Fred,hereand now,ofthe through act of flying away. in what written Throughtheir messages,MOO users thusparticipate action.The design of thisactionis almost comes veryclose to a dramatic oftheplayers.As Reid observes:"The MOO systheresponsibility entirely witha script" witha stage, butitdoes notprovidethem temprovides players withmultiple rooms (170).On thestagesetbythesystem (usuallya building withtextually users meet and furnished described other characters objects), talkor get involvedin various activities: castles, flirting, building spying, characters conversation, up.As in a free-flowing makinglove,breaking may a story, butwhatever tellstories, orengagein actionsthat outline narrativity a micro-level is strictly emergesfromthis interaction phenomenon.The minimalstructuring of the MOO world makes aesthetic pleasure almost and on the of dependent creativity, compatibility cooperativeness entirely but players. Artcan sproutout of MOOs, as it can out of conversation, are not objectsof art.What you get out of themin MOOs in themselves thanin any othermode of textual termsof gratification is, moreliterally a own function of Thisis theinevitable communication, performance. your a of creator's over a fictional world. consequence seizing power MOOs seem to have no problem Despite thislack ofcontrolling script, because playersdo notlook at thegame as immersion-perhaps generating artand do not expectsustaineddramatic suspense or a steadydisplay of invention. The literature on thegenreis fullofexpressions offanatic poetic on thepartofitsusers.Atthispointitis difficult totellhow muchof loyalty thisenthusiasm is due to thepleasureofrole-playing perse,and how much is infatuation withthetechnological need for social interaction, or medium, fascination for the real-world that identities hidebehindthemasks.Immersion is notthesame phenomenon as addiction:it requires a sense ofmemin a or either real while is an obsessive addiction world, bership imaginary, on a certain kind of or dependency experience activity. 9 But since MOOs createa relationto an imaginary world through it is a safe role-playing, thatimmersion is an important assumption partoftheMOO experience. A Dilemma of TextualCommunication Immersionor Interactivity: textual Whether takestheweak form ofa mental interactivity playwith ofmeaning, or thestrong form ofphysically signsleadingto a production producingthese signs,one consequenceappears unavoidable: in textual withimmersion conflicts either or withaesthetic dematters, interactivity
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narrative, hypertext sign,and oftenwithboth.If we comparetraditional ofinteractivity, immerfiction and MOO-typerole-playing gamesin terms all I rank three counts. no form scores on and highest sivity, global design, order: themin thefollowing
2. Role-playing 1. Traditional narrative. games.3. Hypertext. Immersivity: narrative. 1. Role-playing 3. Traditional games.2. Hypertext. Interactivity: 2. 1. narrative 3. Traditional games. Design: Hypertext. Role-playing
of runmostblatantly intotheproblem forms ofinteractivity The strong be monitored ofthereader-turned-author design:how can thecontributions that text a will maintain narrative the so the as whole coherence by system, ? It that and aesthetic could be literature does not objected appeal guarantee Thereare good and bad novelsand poems just as there are pleasureeither. MOO sessions.In thisrespect MOOs are only enjoyableand disappointing different from works.But thegreater ofliterliterary quantitatively ability kindle texts to the aesthetic is to a due extent to their ary experience large use of time-tested such as devices, composition plot,theme,symbol,and tropes.10 In theweakerforms ofinteractivity, but imdesignis easierto control, mersionremainsproblematic. The various attempts litby contemporary to emulatetheinteractivity erature ofVR createa loss ofinvolvement in the fictional and a momenworld,a weakeningoftheimaginative experience of make-believe. The texts that the come closest to combining breakup tary bothimmersion and interactivity are thosethatorchestrate themin rounda game ofin-and-out. robinfashion through The textual ofthetwotypesofexperience can be traced incompatibility back to severalfactors. Whileimmersion in a textual worlddepends on the forward movementof a linearplot,interactivity involves (and creates)a While immersion spatial organization. presupposespretendedbeliefin a solid extratextual reference in a fluidenvironthrives world,interactivity mentof changingrelations. While immersion looks through the signs toward the reference the of the meworld,interactivity exploits materiality dium. Textualrepresentation behaves in one respectlike holographic pictures:you cannotsee theworlds and the signs at the same time.Readers and spectators mustfocusbeyondthesignsto witnesstheemergence of a three-dimensional life-like reality. In computer-generated immersion and interactivity VR, by contrast, do notstandin conflict-orat leastnotnecessarily. Steuersuggeststhatthe
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to mindfully vividnessof a virtualworldmay "decreasea subject'sability environment is so withitin realtime"(90). Ifa computer-generated interact that itsexploration offers rich in "fictional truths" rewards, great whywould an occasional the user botherto changethisworld?Immersion may offer to interactivity, but once a virtual worldis in place as a multisensory threat be enhanced Thereis nothits can byinteractivity. display, immersivity only in real and between immersion ing intrinsically incompatible interactivity: to act,thedeeperourbond to theenvironlifealso, thegreater ourfreedom harmonizein lifeand VR, ment.Whyis it thatthetwo typesofexperience in textual but conflict communication? ofthemedium.The relative One reasonhas to do withtheproperties in classical narrative of immersion and interactivity and incompatibility is due to their exclusive reliance on While mevisual hypertext language. dia are inherently takes a immersive few seconds of to feel (it part the only world of a movie or a realistic textrequiresfargreater mental painting), to translate its signsintoa representation. As the Loyola example activity ittakesconcentration to achieveimmersion, because languageitsuggests, selfoffers no data to thesenses(exceptfor thelook,feeland thesmellofthe to themessage). All sensory data must book,whichare usuallynotrelated therefore be simulatedby theimagination. The reasonforthetendency of theorists immersion a to dismiss as that it is is passive experience literary a mental that in reachedthrough must itself order to reach its activity ignore to increase thisactivity is likely to lead to self-reflexivity, goal. Anyattempt the delicatebalance betweenconstructing the textual destroying thereby itas language-independent worldand experiencing This dilemma presence. is muchless acutein a multi-media environment. In VR,thesenseofimmersion is givenby image,sound,and tactile sensations. is added Interactivity to theexperience thedisplaywiththemovements of the by coordinating user's body.The physicalpresenceofthebody in thevirtualenvironment reinforces thesense ofthephysicalpresenceofthevirtual world. Anotherdifference betweenVR and literature residesin the semiotic In a textual natureofinteractivity. are signs, world,thetoolsofinteractivity butintherealworldall action It the is therefore passes through body. through themediation ofthebody thatVR developersenvisionthereconciliation of and interactivity. "Our body is our interface," claims William immersion in a VR manifesto Bricken and Texeira, 160).Whenthe (quotedin Pimentel readerofa postmodern workis invited in theconstruction to "participate"
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world she is aware thatthisworld does not existindepenof thefictional hencetheloss in immersive of the semiotic power.But the dently activity; as existing witha world thatis experienced interacts user of a VR system the this world is accessible to because body through many autonomously As thestory ofSaintThomasdemto thesenseoftouch. senses,particularly a sense of tactilesensationsare second to none in establishing onstrates, in virtual can be termed the user The of reality reality. bodilyparticipation in real world in thesame sense thatperforming actions the world-creative As a purelymentalevent,textualcreation is a can be said to createreality. thecreation: authorsdo not ex nihilo thatexcludesthecreator from creation But if a mindmay conceivea world belong to the world of theirfictions. itfrom theinside.As a relation from theoutside,a body alwaysexperiences of VR immerses the user in an world involvingthebody,theinteractivity as alreadyin place; as a processinvolving the themind,itturns experienced The most user's sojournin thevirtualworld intoa creative membership. immersive forms oftextual aretherefore dramatic performances interactivity in whichtheuser's verbalcontributions and countas theactions, gestures an acts of member of the Rather than embodied fictional world. speech pera creation a diegetic, use oflanguage,these i.e. descriptive through forming in a dialogic and live createthe fictional worldfrom within contributions withits objectsand its othermembers.As I have pointedout interaction oftexuality above,theseforms drama,children's (MOOs, interactive games of make-believe) have yetto solve theproblemof design,a condition for but as the toward a solution of the conbeing accepted art, theypoint way flict and interactivity: betweenimmersion turn (here language intogesture I paraphraseReid),intoa corporeal mode ofbeingin theworld. and immersion are inherently more By suggestingthatinteractivity in VR thanin literature, I do notmeanto promote VR as a supecompatible riorartform. Immersion is a provenmean ofaesthetic butit is satisfaction, not necessarily the onlyone. Many readersare willingto sacrifice at least some degreeofimmersion to themoreintellectual of pleasure self-reflexivstudiesthetaskof telling whether or notaesthetic ity. I deferto empirical satisfaction can be completely from immersion. But even if emancipated immersion turnsout to be a necessary of component readingpleasure,its withinteractivity conflict should be regardedas a challenge, not a limitation.Artis an exploitation of theproperties of its mediumand a compromisebetweenconflicting dramatic goals.In VR and in theabove-mentioned forms of textuality, theconflict involvestherelation of interactivity to de#89, 1999 Substance
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the conflict is sign-immersionbeing givenby the medium.In literature, and it immersion against interactivity, interactivity against two-pronged: pits design.The challengemay be morecomplexthanin VR, but thecomproowes its of its medium,literature mises are morevaried.To the strictures and diversity. richness FortCollins, Colorado
NOTES
form from the 1. An earlier version of thisessayis availablein electronic and shorter ofPostmodern file archives Culture, ryan.994. 2. See Moulthrop, a critique for oftheidea ofpost-symbolic com"Writing Cyberspace," VR developers It is obviousthat understand in a linguistic munication. sense, symbol as anarbitrary canbecombined anddiscrete that into units larger through sign signifying them with iconand therulesofa syntax. As in Peirce's contrasts for typology, symbol index.ButevenifVR technology modesofinteractivity--such develops non-symbolic as changing thecolorofan object thanby typing a by thetouchofthehand,rather command-itcouldnotcreate simulacra of therealworldifit complete reasonably natural excluded languages. a system 3. One mayofcourse ofdoing for thesakeofaesthetic imagine justthat gratification:an interactive, ofsurrealistic multi-media itsefimplementation deriving poetry from fect theincongruity ofthemetaphor. Butin this case theuser'saction wouldaim toward nottoward magicaltransformation, sinking golfballs intoholes,and therewouldfulfill theuser'sintent. sponseofthesystem 4. I borrow I giveita different this from Iser, phrase though meaning. 5. Making choices thereader meansproviding witha strategy for predictable navigating thetext. In thepamphlet that Michael a cluefor accompanies Afternoon, Joyce provides the"words that i.e.thewords that havelinks attached tothem: detecting yield," "They are usuallyones whichhave texture, as well as character namesand pronouns" (3). the"words that becomes thestimulus that the Finding yield" keepsthereader turning electronic to theincentive alternative oftraditional pages.Thisdesireis hypertext's narrative: howitends. finding 6.Anexample ofa reader fascinated central isJ. Yellowlees bythe enigma posedbyAfternoon "So whenwe navigate interactive we arepurnarratives, Douglas.Shewrites: through thesamegoalswe do as readers ofprint when we knowthat narratives-even the suing willnotbestow ofa singular text sanction that either authouponus thefinal ending rizesorinvalidates ofthetext" ourinterpretations (184). 7. See Laurel, and Kelso,Weyhrauch and Bates, "Dramatic Presence." "Placeholder," MultiUserDungeon(or Dimension) and MOO forMultiUserDun8. MUD standsfor Oriented. geon,Object Victor Nell makesa cleardistinction 9. In thecase ofreading, between involvement (an closeto whatI call immersion) and addiction. Addicted readers are voraexperience blockoutreality, do notsavorthestory, and whenthey aredone,the cious, completely anditawakens "leavesnoresidue no deepfeelings" them (211)becauseitlivesfor story
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ofreading. Nellgoeson tosaythat "addictive behavior ... predicts onlyinthepresent an undeveloped for fantasm" (212). private capacity 10. Another is theexistence of a processofselection and ofeditorial ofcourse, factor, that literature butnottoMOO participation. policies applyto published
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Immersion vs. Interactivity: Virtual Reality and Literary Theory Author(s): Marie-Laure Ryan Source: SubStance, Vol.

vs.Interactivity: Immersion and Literary Virtual Reality Theory1

Substance #89, 1999

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