brick by virtual brick: interpreting vr minecraft

17
NHTV University of Applied Sciences Brick by Virtual Brick: Interpreting VR Minecraft How VR-meaning making can be derived from immersion and cognitive social conventions By Tim van Leeuwerden Abstract: Digital storytelling has seen a new, interesting evolution within the capacities of technological realism. Recent developments in the field of Virtual Reality (VR) technology have boosted the experience of virtual conventions to a seemingly realistic approach in terms of meaning-making from the visual perspective, mixed with rational activities performed in VR. This paper theorizes the sensible behavior in VR experiences, such as Minecraft on the Oculus Rift, as interpretations of Saussurean and Peircean semiotics. The signs and symbols within Minecraft correlate with cognitive social conventions, performing a sense of immersion that may kindle VR environments as potential digital narrative agencies. Keywords: Semiotics, Immersion, Virtual Interpretation, Minecraft, Virtual Narratives

Upload: nhtv

Post on 19-Nov-2023

0 views

Category:

Documents


0 download

TRANSCRIPT

NHTV University of Applied Sciences

Brick by Virtual Brick: Interpreting VR Minecraft

How VR-meaning making can be derived from immersion and

cognitive social conventions

By Tim van Leeuwerden

Abstract:

Digital storytelling has seen a new, interesting evolution within the capacities of

technological realism. Recent developments in the field of Virtual Reality (VR) technology

have boosted the experience of virtual conventions to a seemingly realistic approach in terms

of meaning-making from the visual perspective, mixed with rational activities performed in

VR. This paper theorizes the sensible behavior in VR experiences, such as Minecraft on the

Oculus Rift, as interpretations of Saussurean and Peircean semiotics. The signs and symbols

within Minecraft correlate with cognitive social conventions, performing a sense of

immersion that may kindle VR environments as potential digital narrative agencies.

Keywords: Semiotics, Immersion, Virtual Interpretation, Minecraft, Virtual Narratives

NHTV University of Applied Sciences November, 2015 1

Introduction

For a long time in research, the notion of a virtual reality environment has interested

the academic field and sparked many investigations towards the possibilities of

creating virtual experiences. Academics and researches have tried their hands in the

past on reaching wondrous possibilities illuminated on the eye through virtual

gaming (Virtual Boy, Cybermaxx, iGlasses etc.) However, most of these VR-

experiences narrated a dull emotional experience and often provided low-input

movability.

With the rise of Oculus Rift and other devices, VR-experiences are witnessing a

Renaissance. Especially in the last decade, new possibilities have risen up with the

production of affordable virtual reality projection products. Perhaps now it is time to

(re)discover the possibilities of VR in this day and age, with the possible advent of

virtual reality serving as a narrative agency through which sensible narrative

progression can be told. Ryan (2001) mentions that the most fundamental narrative

pattern is that of problem-solving. VR-experiences that arranges the user in a sensible

problem-solving activity might spark a sense of immersion as well as a sense of

familiarity with real-life objects and activities. We will see how meaning-making of

signs and symbols spark an immersive feeling when reviewing the VR-experience of

Minecraft.

Previous ventures in the realm of Virtual Reality

While Minecraft sounds like a promising as a virtual experience, it should be noted

that many bold attempts at imaginative virtual reality experiences had been tried in

the past. During the 90’s decade, game developers ventured into the world of virtual

reality, but often found that the software was too lacking in terms to the scope of

vision developers had in mind (most notably the failure of the Nintendo Virtual Boy

in 1995). Virtual reality was successful however, in other areas.

In phobia treatment for example, where the implication of virtual reality and tactile

argumentation allowed for one case subject to steadily overcome his arachnophobia

in a safe environment (Carlin et al, 1997). The case subject was gradually introduced

to spiders in the virtual process and was able to completely overcome his fears when

NHTV University of Applied Sciences November, 2015 2

in full virtual presence with the spider. In another virtual reality investigation,

hospital residents were trained with VR training to perform surgery. The results

concluded that VR-trained residents performed the surgery 29% faster after training

and are far less likely to make fatal errors during operation (Seymour et al, 2002).

Thus, research has shown that virtual experiences produce better results. One could

argue this boost in success is derivative of increased immersion. It is also argued that,

in order to reach the most effective immersive VR experience, a high level of

presence is mandatory (Hodges et al, 1995). In previous times of virtual reality

multimedia experiences, it would seem that the required level of presence within a

virtual world could not be reached. This might very well be a causal effect for the

failure of previous multimedia immersion, such as the Virtual Boy. The probable

reason why VR treatment projects such as the arachnophobia and the surgery

examples could work, was because the experience was set in a relatively small scope

with no surprising factors. Now, with the increase of (affordable) technology,

imaginative projects can be conjured to create optical illusions that mimic the feeling

of a full sense of presence in a virtual experience. VR-experiences can offer different

degrees of narrative immersion, wherein the producer has constructed imaginative

virtual worlds for the user to traverse.

One should question what ‘imaginative’ means, when talking about multimedia

virtual reality experiences. As previously said, treatment virtual reality could work

because the experiences were controlled, with low-input movability. Often, the user

could only adjust their view to 180 or 360 degrees, with no move controls.

Developers can now construct an experience that allows to be enjoyed openly with

interaction by the user, enabling meaningful narrative events and immersion.

Virtual Reality – Advocating the necessity of familiarity and openness

The best description of virtual reality for this research would be that of Krueger

(1991), who states that virtual reality “typically refers to three-dimensional realities

implemented with stereo viewing goggles and reality gloves.” Indeed, head-

mounted stereo viewing hardware such as Oculus Rift has sparked imaginative

projects and researches, such as a VR-setting of Minecraft. Thanks to the distribution

NHTV University of Applied Sciences November, 2015 3

of developer kits to prosumers and academic institutions, VR pioneers can test the

waters before the onset of commercial enjoyment. It is of utmost importance that,

when VR will become a commercial commodity, the entry-level of understanding

and interpreting a virtual world experience is relatively low. The user needs to be

able to make meaning out of what is happening and process it accordingly by using

cognitive references in the brain. Minecraft, in that sense, is an outstanding example.

Games such as Minecraft that carry an ‘emergent narrative’ (Aylett, 1999), wherein it

is up to the user to make their own sense of narrative experience, is an excellent

structure for a VR gaming experience. You are forced to explore a relative empty

world wherein you cannot do anything much except for ‘just start building’.

The experience procreates for a sense of ‘openness’ to the virtual world and how the

user chooses to interact within it. The user could walk the entire map until you reach

a beach and figure this is the end of the road. The user could go in caves and start

exploring, only to quickly find out that it is wise to leave the spiders alone. The user

can wonder off in the dark and discover that the world is more hostile at night than

at day. In Minecraft, we will see that a lot of meaning-making from the gameplay

mechanics derive from familiarity with symbols and sign interpretation. One needs

to wonder how users should make sense of what is happening around the user while

in virtual reality, and whether the interpretation of socially affiliated objects changes.

We will therefore implement the study of semiotics into the concept of virtual reality

meaning-making.

Immersion in VR

To understand this concept of virtual world interpretation, we need to delve into the

concept of immersion. Murray has an interesting notion of the concept of immersion

when placed in the context of virtual reality:

“A stirring narrative in any medium can be experienced as a virtual reality because our

brains are programmed to tune into stories with an intensity that can obliterate the world

around us. . . . The experience of being transported to an elaborately simulated place is

pleasurable in itself, regardless of the fantasy content. We refer to this experience as

immersion.” (Murray, 1997)

NHTV University of Applied Sciences November, 2015 4

According to Murray, immersion within virtual reality can be a body-transcending

experience wherein your perception is changed. Like swimming in water, your

perceptual apparatus gets changed because of the different physics and views you

are experiencing. The metaphor of swimming in water can also be used to explain

that, like learning how to swim, users take enjoyment into learning what the new

possibilities are in the virtual world you are in. This transforms virtual reality into a

participatory activity. Virtual reality might therefore rather be seen as a human

experience with interpretations and meaning making, rather than viewing it as mere

hardware. Experiencing a virtual world means your cerebral senses are a presence in

that virtual world. As Gibson (1979) argues, presence should not refer to one’s

surroundings, but to the perception of those surroundings as they are interpreted by

automatic and controlled mental processes. Steuer (1992) added to this notion his

concept of telepresence. The idea of telepresence refers to how a VR user favors the

mediated virtual environment as opposed to the immediate physical environment he

or she is in. Telepresence is the intrinsic perception of the environment that is

projected towards a user within his brain. As we will see in this research, a sense of

telepresence in the user whilst associating signs and symbols to everyday objects that

trigger familiarity can dictate the emotional responses of the user’s experiences in

virtual reality.

NHTV University of Applied Sciences November, 2015 5

Figure 1: Minecraft as played in Oculus Rift with stereo viewing goggles. In the frame we see

a Minecraft tree.

Semiotics – Start building

Before we build further upon this idea of immersion and presence, one should have a

deeper understanding of the relationship between virtual perception and semiotics.

Semiotics is the study of signs and meaning-making. It works with objects, as well as

with tokens to reference them by. It is broadly accepted that the founder of the

concept of semiotics is the French linguistic Ferdinand de Saussure. De Saussure

(1916) was the first to present the notion of ‘semiology’ and explained the idea that

our interpretation of signs is crucial to understanding the social situation that is

happening in front of one. He stated that the interpretation of a sign is an arbitrary

reaction of the mind to what is happening in front of it.

Ferdinand de Saussure (1916) formed a dyadic model of signification. He defined

that signs could be interpreted in the following two ways, as signifier and signified:

Signifier (significant) – The form which the sign takes

Signified (signifié) – The concept it represents

When regarding meaning-making within video game aesthetics, Minecraft actually

requires a low barrier of semiotic understanding. The signifier of a virtual reality

NHTV University of Applied Sciences November, 2015 6

Minecraft is a videogame that is huge in size to explore and in which objects could be

altered to create new constructions. The signified of a virtual reality Minecraft is the

concept is infinite exploration, both in the environments as well as the possibilities of

constructing objects where the only limitation if your own imagination.

In figure 1, we see a user experiencing Minecraft through the Oculus Rift. In the

frame we see a Minecraft object that looks like a tree. It actually is a tree within the

game. If we then look at Saussure’s dyadic model of signification, we can say that the

signifier is the form of the tree, and the signified, is the concept that a tree can be cut

and reconstructed to wooden objects to build other constructions. The user makes

sense of the presence that he is close to a tree and could cut it to make other

buildings, such as a house. The user can then generate not only a sense of presence by

being close to the tree in his perception, but also a sense of telepresence because the

user could construct a house with wood much easier in this virtual world, as they

will find out when they start stacking the wood on top of one another. Place many

stacks of wood in a square or a triangle and you have already constructed your first

house in Minecraft, both in the signifier sense as well as in the signified.

The triadic cycle of Peirce

Charles Sanders Peirce (1935), on the other hand, emphasized that the relation

between a given token and object it represents is not just a confluent connection.

Rather, it works as a relations that depends on the situation in which the token is

interpreted. We will explain Peirce’s and Saussure’s semiosis based on virtual

Minecraft and the art of constructing and surviving.

While de Saussure was more interested in a linguistic approach to semiotics, Peirce

favored a reasoning of logic to the process of meaning-making. We will now delve

deeper into Peirce’s works and whether the situation of being in a virtual reality

telepresence alters how the given token is interpreted. To understand the relation of

virtual reality meaning-making with Peirce’s concept, we first need to construct a

basic understanding of his concept of semiosis. According to Peirce (1935), semiosis

can be described as the ‘action of signs’. He therefore made a triadic cyclic system of

NHTV University of Applied Sciences November, 2015 7

different sign interpretations wherein signs are interpreted as referring to their

objects in different perspectives (Chandler, 2002):

1. The representamen, the form of the sign

2. The interpretant, the sense that is made out of the sign according to the

interpreter

3. The object, the physical and mental concept that is socially attributed to the

sign

Figure 2: A Minecraft Axe, obtained in the first minutes of the game.

Thus, while the object in the eyes of the interpreter does not change in construct, it

can change in interpretation of the action the symbol represents. An example would

be the Axe object in Minecraft. The representamen is the form of the object, the

interpretant is the sense that is made out of the form of the axe according to the mind

of the interpreter (‘maybe I can use this axe object to cut the trees I saw earlier’), and

the object is the socially attributed construction the interpreter makes when thinking

of an axe (a wooden stick with a sharp blade on one end that can cut wood).

Icon, index and symbol – Together they construct a home

Another important component of semiosis is the relation between icon, index and

symbol. This set of three forms of signs better explains the relations of the signs and

in what context they should be interpreted, rather than making sense of the sign itself

as described in the triad above (Harrell, 2007):

NHTV University of Applied Sciences November, 2015 8

1. The icon, a sign in which the representamen holds similar qualities as the

object it represents.

2. The index, a sign in which the representamen directly connects to the object via

an either causal or physical relationship.

3. The symbol, a sign in which the relationship between the representamen and

object is attributable to arbitrary social convention.

Figure 3: A Minecraft house, constructed mainly with basic wood.

To explain with an example we will demonstrate a Minecraft house, constructed with

the Axe and wood of the previous examples. The icon is the similar qualities as the

represented object (you recognize it as a house), the index is the causal relationship of

the represented to the object (this is a wooden house, built with wood and axe) and

finally, the symbol is the social convention of a house that this object also represents

(houses often have triangular roofs, a front door, windows, garden etc.)

This latter triadic cycle allows for different interpretations of different object with

different people. The relationships between signs could therefore be interpreted in

unlimited ways. Peirce referred to this notion of innumerable possible interpretations

as “unlimited semiosis” (as cited in Harrell, 2007). In virtual reality experiences, we

find that immersion and understanding what is happening in front of the user is

actually not that different from reality, so long as the logistics of meaning-making

follow the same rules as real life.

NHTV University of Applied Sciences November, 2015 9

Signs – Real, as well as make-believe

Just like in real life, we as a species are naturally programmed to make sense of what

is happening in front of us. The same goes with Minecraft. When standing still and

observing the world, it will soon become dark and you will be defenseless against

monsters. As Duncan (2011) states, “one could interpret the goal of the game as being

simply, don’t die”. The game gives you no goals and doesn’t tell you to do anything,

but you make meaning of what is there in front of you (find a tree, figure out how to

cut it, make a house to protect you from creatures at night etc.). This creates a sense

of make-your-own story where your references are cognitive social convention.

Semiosis contributes to the feeling of virtual reality and immersion. But your feeling

of immersion is still dependent on the interpretation of what is happening in front of

you in a virtual world. In Minecraft, you form your own story, while there is no

given story; only visual representations to identify and interpret.

Kendall Walton (1990) and his prop theory suggest that any type of visual

representation in fiction is a game of make-believe. However, when one would enter

a virtual reality Minecraft experience, they would not refer to other characters as

semiotic constructions but as characters that increase immersion. The user’s level of

telepresence dictates them to feel and interpret the world as a new realistic realm to

explore that follows a set of rules. In Minecraft’s case, it is basically the same set of

rules when confronted with objects: axes cut trees, wood make houses and so on.

Literary fiction expert Marie-Laure Ryan (1994) states that ‘the reader's sense of

immersion and empathy is a function of the depth of information’. The reader, or

user in Minecraft, is being forced to make their own sense of immersion and empathy

to the world because of the lack of instruction. Therefore, their telepresence and

interpretation of the immersive world they are in increases with every new sign they

construct a meaning out, based on their understanding of real life objects.

Dicisigns – The propositions of realism

Of course, everything that happens in virtual reality might well or not be ‘true’, but is

certainly not ‘real’. One should question how to define signs which are not

necessarily true or genuine. For that we will expand Pierce’s research of semiosis by

NHTV University of Applied Sciences November, 2015 10

adding a new component: dicisigns. As Peirce describes it, dicisigns are

‘propositions’ of signs and their compulsive effect on the interpreter. He argues that

dicisigns are signs that convey information, rather than a sign from which

information may be derived. Stjernfelt (2014) cites that “Dicisigns are thus signs which

may be assigned a truth value—without providing, themselves, reasons for that value.”

Stjernfelt also notes that the conveying of the truth value of dicisigns can be to

oneself.

Peirce uses the example of a photograph. If the interpreter describes the rectangular

object as: ‘This is a photograph’, then he conveyed the message of the rectangular

object being a photograph to himself and others, without necessarily being true. The

mere print of the photograph does not derive any information in itself. We convey

information of what is on the photograph itself. The fact that the photograph is

basically a set of light rays projected on the piece of print by another object transfers

the object of the photograph to a dicisign because we do not know whether the

projection is true. Also, when someone acknowledges the photograph being a

photograph without having an absolute truth value of what a photograph should be

(merely the shape of a photograph or also with a picture on it) the sign changes in

meaning. The proposition of what the sign actually is and how it is interpreted

describes the object from an indexical standpoint, because the form of the picture on

the photograph directly connects to the causal relationship of light rays projected on

the photograph. However, the sign may actually also be symbolical, dependent on the

viewpoint of the interpreter, if the interpreter simply deems the photograph object in

itself as a social construction of what a photograph should look like. Thus, the

proposition of a photograph demonstrates that signs can be interpreted not only on

how the interpreter acknowledges it, but also to what the possible causal/physical

relation of the representamen of the sign is, without having a truth value.

NHTV University of Applied Sciences November, 2015 11

Figure 4: A Minecraft Spider, a common enemy in the game.

Immersion, interpretation and reaction

To demonstrate dicisigns and meaning-making in correlation with immersion, we

will use the example of enemies within Minecraft. Most people would interpret

black, red-eyed spiders within videogames as a hostile force unless explained

otherwise. If you would have arachnophobia and be confronted with spiders within

Minecraft, your mind would have to process and let go of the feeing of immersion

you are not really in danger, only your virtual character is. The physical reaction of

seeing a Spider in the game is a truth value of genuine heartfelt fear within the user

caused by the virtual reality surrounding, which here serves as an icon. The index of

the dicisign here is the natural reaction of anxiety when seeing an enemy. The truth

value of this dicisign is that the mind is being tricked into thinking that the signs in

front of the interpreter are faced in real life, rather than in virtual reality. The

conveyed information was interpreted, but not necessarily ‘true’. The emotion is,

however, ‘real’.

Simulacra & Simulation

At this stage, it might be interesting to mention the postmodern philosophy of

Simulacra and Simulation. A theory by Jean Baudrillard (1994), the simulacrum is the

NHTV University of Applied Sciences November, 2015 12

representation of a person or an object. Baudrillard proposes that simulacra are not

the mediation of reality, but the perception of reality. They are the signs and symbols

we associate with our understanding of everyday life.

These perceptions of reality and our understanding of cultural associations reoccur

within the virtual world of Minecraft. Baudrillard mentions the first stage of sign-

ordering, which is the ‘sacramental order’ (1994, p.6). These simulacra are the signs

that mimic or represent their realistic counterparts to a truthful reflection. We believe

the perceived simulacrum to be a correct representation to the cognitive association

we have with the object, such as the Axe or the Spider. Minecraft sketches a world of

virtual signs that may well or not be truthful, but in the common sense they are

represented and interpreted as realistic reflections of the cognitive associations we

have with the object.

Narrative agency

In VR, the technological capabilities thus allow for the user to experience and

interpret actions and objects in a truthful sense of which meaning-making can be

conducted. The simulacra perceived in VR can be perceived as truthful to the user, to

which the user can perceive emotional responses, as demonstrated with the Spider

example. The conditions of VR-experiences, such as Oculus Rift, might possibly have

finally reached a technological achievement wherein meaningful storytelling can be

implemented. The VR Minecraft simulation serves as an emergent narrative

experience, whereas other VR-experiences may narrate a more linear structure in

terms of providing the user with a meaningful journey wherein they can become

immersed in a narratological adventure, sustained by the preference of telepresence.

NHTV University of Applied Sciences November, 2015 13

Conclusion

In conclusion, virtual reality is a new realm of exploration to which meaning-making

may be assigned in a variety of ways, while always referring back to the cognitive

references the user has from social conventions. Indeed, VR simulations may now

finally have reached a point wherein the simulation can procreate genuine emotion

and cognitive association that apply to simulacra and cultural signs and symbols. As

we saw with the VR Minecraft examples, virtual reality signs might actually hold the

same social cognitive references of signals that apply to real life. The user might not

even have a hard time interpreting new virtual signs he or she encounters, provided

these are subjective to social convention and the laws of physics. Their level of

telepresence puts them in an immersion where they favor a virtual world in which

normal social actions are performed on a much faster basis. For example, in

Minecraft you can build a house in an hour whereas in real life that will take months,

but building a house is still indexical to a causal relationship of collecting resources

to a triangular stack, that forms a house in the symbolical sign. According to

Csikszentmihalyi (1990), the combination of action and awareness renders the

interpreter to be in a state of optimal experience. When in a state of relaxation, the

interpreter can interpret the virtual reality signs while feeling safe and willing to

favor a telepresence. Indeed, the level of immersion within virtual reality is

dependent on the ability of the interpreter to make indexical and symbolical signs

out of the representamen, while at the same time recognizing the truth values of

what signs the interpreter is confronted with. The technological Renaissance VR is

currently undergoing might finally render virtual experiences to be a heartfelt

narrative journey, wherein the telepresence of the user adds to the narrative

enjoyment. The narrative signs and symbols the user is confronted with speaks to the

user’s cognitive referendum. In Minecraft, an emergent narrative experience, it

draws back to the social references the user projects, builds and is confronted with.

At the same time, the emergent narrative journey the users sets out for themselves

are subjective to simulacra. New, creative constructions are still based on the

fundamentals of social conventions (houses have roofs, big red-eyed spiders are

probably hostile). Minecraft is therefore an excellent hub to explore the possibilities

NHTV University of Applied Sciences November, 2015 14

of narration in VR, as well as virtual meaning-making. As the publications of

Learning and Teaching state:

‘What a person can build in Minecraft is nearly limitless from representations of the real

world (like Pyramids and ruins) to wildly imaginative fantastic worlds such as ... the solar

power station of the 23rd Century or habitats on Mars.’ (Brand and Kinash, 2013, p. 057)

Suggestions for further research

A reoccurring feature within this research was the reoccurrence of narrative

fundamentalism in appliance with semiotics. Seeing as meaningful virtual reality

experiences are relatively new in the industry, it might be of industrial as well as

academic benefit to explore the possibilities of interactive storytelling within VR.

Bostan & Marsh (2012) have proposed that the emphasis of interactive storytelling

should not remain with the technological attributes, but also to the amount of

attributes to be manipulated by the user. In that perspective, VR storytelling must

consider the possibilities of the amount of interactivity it gives to the user, as

opposed to the ludological experience. It could possibly be interesting to consider a

narrative paradigm for VR, wherein the narratological options presented to the user

mask a branching storyline. If discovered that certain options lead to specific

outcomes, the user might have the incentive to restart the simulation, in order to test

all the possible options and traverse all possible outcomes.

NHTV University of Applied Sciences November, 2015 15

Reference List

Aylett, R. (1999, November). Narrative in virtual environments-towards emergent

narrative. In Working notes of the Narrative Intelligence Symposium.

Baudrillard, J. (1994). Simulacra and simulation. University of Michigan press.

Bostan, B., & Marsh, T. (2010). The ‘Interactive’of Interactive Storytelling: Customizing the

Gaming Experience. In Entertainment Computing-ICEC 2010(pp. 472-475). Springer

Berlin Heidelberg.

Brand, J., & Kinash, S. (2013). Creating Minds in Minecraft. Learning and Teaching

papers, Volume 53.

Carlin, A.S., Hoffman, H.G., & Weghorst, S. (1997). Virtual reality and tactile

augmentation in the treatment of spider phobia: a case report. Behaviour, Research &

Therapy, Volume 35, Issue 2, pp. 153-158.

Chandler, D. (2002). Semiotics: The basics. London: Routledge.

Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. Harper &

Row.

Duncan, S.S. (2011). Minecraft, Beyond Construction and Survival. Well Played, Volume

1, Issue 1, pp. 1-22.

Gibson, J.J., (1979). The ecological approach to visual perception. Erlbaum, Mahwah, USA.

Harrell, D.A. (2007). Theory and technology for computational narrative : an approach to

generative and interactive narrative with bases in algebraic semiotics and cognitive

linguistics. University of California, San Diego.

Hartshorne, C., & Weiss, P., (1935). Collected papers of C.S. Peirce. Volume 5.

Hodges, L.F., Rothbaum, B.O., Kooper, R., Opdyke, D., Meyer, T., North, M., de

Graff, J.J., Williford, J. (1995). Virtual environments for treating the fear of heights. IEEE

Computer, Volume 28, Issue 7, pp. 27-34.

Krueger, M. W. (1991). Artificial reality (second edition). Reading: Addison-Wesley.

Murray, J. (1997).Hamlet on the Holodeck: The Future of Narrative in Cyberspace

(Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 1997), pp. 98–99.

Ryan, M. (1994). Immersion vs. Interactivity: Virtual Reality and Literary Theory.

Postmodern Culture, Volume 5, Issue 1.

Ryan, M. L. (2001). Beyond myth and metaphor. consultant, 1983, 91.

NHTV University of Applied Sciences November, 2015 16

Saussure, de F. (1916). Nature of the Linguistic Sign, Cours de linguistique generale. In

The Critical Tradition: Classic Texts and Contemporary Trends. Ed. David H.

Richter. Second edition. Boston: Bedford, 1998. pp. 832–35.

Seymour, N.E., Gallagher, A.G., Roman., S.A., O’Brien., M.K,. Bansal, V.K.,

Andersen, D.K., and Satava, R.M. (2002). Virtual Reality Training Improves Operating

Room Performance. Annals of Surgery, Volume 236, Issue 3, pp. 458-464.

Steuer, J., (1992). Defining Virtual Reality: Dimensions Determining Telepresence. Journal

of Communication, Volume 42, pp. 73-93.

Stjernfelt, F. (2014). Dicisigns, Peirce’s semiotic doctrine of propositions. Synthese,

Volume 192, Issue 4, pp. 1019-1054.

Walton, K.L. (1990). Mimesis as make-believe. Harvard University Press.