Playing in VR
Imagination, Affordances,
and Aesthetic Experience
21 and 22 May 2024
University of Antwerp, Belgium
ABOUT
Aim
Virtual reality (VR) has been discussed in depth within current philosophical fields, including metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of mind, ethics or aesthetics. In metaphysics, for example, the debate focuses on the ontological status of VR objects, and imagination is discussed in the context of whether objects we encounter in VR games are real or fictional (imagined). Not much research has focused on simply playing in virtual spaces, leaving out the question of aesthetic and ludic experiences.
This conference aims at filling precisely this gap. We are interested in the role that imagination and affordances may have in experiences of playing in virtual reality. Playing encompasses a larger field of interest than only playing VR games, with strict rules and constraints. It opens up questions about the possibility of treating virtual reality spaces as environments that afford free play, creativity, imagining, education or performance.
Objectives
The main objective of the conference is the critical assessment of the concept of play in VR contexts. The conference aims to extend the scope of philosophical interest in virtual reality, from questions about metaphysics, to the domain of aesthetics and ludic experiences. It aims to explore the role that imagination can play in virtual reality beyond the role of allowing to represent fictional entities in VR, and to explore whether VR can be meaningfully thought of as an environment that, when designed appropriately, can afford playful engagements. We aim to focus on the relational aspect of playing in VR, and not on the representational aspect, by looking into whether and how one can be imaginative, creative and interactive when playfully exploring VR spaces.
Example questions that we wish to examine during the conference include, but are not limited to:
• In what way is imagination involved in virtual play? Do you perceive play spaces in VR, or do you imagine them? Can VR enhance one’s imaginative capacities?
• Do you see virtual spaces as affording play? Are there affordances in VR that invite playing? Are affordances in VR and affordances in non-digital pretend play different?
• Are virtual objects ‘toys’? What is the difference between playing a game in VR, and simply playing in VR (and is it still play)? Can virtual objects shape our play, just like material objects shape our play?
• Can you make-believe or pretend in VR? What is the social aspect of virtual play? Can you cheat, hurt another, or be more vulnerable in VR? How do players connect with each other in VR?
• How does virtuality transform our aesthetic experiences? Is there aesthetic judgement involved when playing in VR?
invited Speakers
Amy Kind
Russell K. Pitzer Professor of Philosophy, joined the CMC faculty in 1997. Currently the Director of the Gould Center for Humanistic Studies, she has previously served as Chair of the Department of Philosophy (2009 - 2012) and Associate Dean of the Faculty (2005 - 2008). At CMC, she teaches classes in philosophy of mind, metaphysics, and logic. Her research interests lie broadly in the philosophy of mind, though most of her published work has concerned issues relating either to imagination or to phenomenal consciousness.
Shaun Gallagher
Lillian and Morrie Moss Professor of Excellence. His areas of research include phenomenology and the cognitive sciences, especially topics related to embodiment, self, agency and intersubjectivity, hermeneutics, and the philosophy of time. Dr. Gallagher has a secondary research appointment at the University of Wollongong, Australia.
Nele van de Mosselaer
Assistant Professor, Tilburg School of Humanities and Digital Sciences, Department of Philosophy. In her research, she explores the relation between imagination, emotions, actions, and desires in the context of (interactive) fiction experiences. Her fields of interest are the philosophy of fiction, game studies, and narratology, and how the boundaries between reality and fiction can be blurred within virtual environments.
Paweł Grabarczyk
Associate professor at Digital Design, IT University of Copenhagen, Denmark and Wydział Filozoficzno-historyczny, University of Łódź, Poland. Analytic philosopher and game scholar, his interests concern the boundaries between philosophy and game studies. He is fascinated by independent and experimental game design (especially virtual reality projects), the history of games and computing as well as ethical and cultural implications of digital technologies.
Tom McClelland
Lecturer in the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge and a Director of Studies at Clare College Cambridge. He is focussing on affordances for mental action, and has been exploring how findings in psychology and psychiatry can be helpfully reframed in terms of mental affordances and identifying avenues for future empirical research.
Kristof Timmerman
Kristof is a designer and director of digital performances and installations, working in the field of live, interactive digital environments and virtual reality. He is the chair and coordinator of MAXlab, the research group on the interaction between art and digital technology at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp, and he is connected to the Immersive Lab of the AP University College. Kristof is involved in several research projects on virtual and augmented reality, mostly in a multidisciplinary context. He organizes the annual summer school ‘Storytelling in Virtual Reality. An Immersive Encounter’. He is a teacher and frequently consulted coach for VR productions and digital storytelling.
