Using Goffman's Frameworks to Explain Presence and Reality

This paper defines presence in terms of frames and involvement [1]. The value of this analysis of presence is demonstrated by applying it to several issues that have been raised about presence: residual awareness of nonmediation, imaginary presence, presence as categorical or continuum, and presence breaks. The paper goes on to explore the relationship between presence and reality. Goffman introduced frames to try to answer the question, “Under what circumstances do we think things real?” Under frame analysis there are three different conditions under which things are considered unreal, these are explained and related to the experience of presence. Frame analysis is used to show why virtual environments are not usually considered to be part of reality, although the virtual spaces of phone interaction are considered real. The analysis also yields practical suggestions for extending presence within virtual environments.

[1]  Giuseppe Riva,et al.  Real Presence: How Different Ontologies Generate Different Criteria for Presence, Telepresence, and Virtual Presence , 1999, Presence.

[2]  Carrie Heeter,et al.  Reflections on Real Presence by a Virtual Person , 2003, Presence: Teleoperators & Virtual Environments.

[3]  Roger C. Schank,et al.  Scripts, plans, goals and understanding: an inquiry into human knowledge structures , 1978 .

[4]  Matthew Lombard,et al.  At the Heart of It All: The Concept of Presence , 2006 .

[5]  E. Goffman.  Frame analysis: An essay on the organization of experience , 1974 .

[6]  J. Meyrowitz,et al.  No Sense of Place: The Impact of Electronic Media on Social Behavior. , 1987 .

[7]  Thomas B. Sheridan,et al.  Musings on Telepresence and Virtual Presence , 1992, Presence: Teleoperators & Virtual Environments.

[8]  G. Riva,et al.  Being There: Concepts, Effects and Measurements of User Presence in Synthetic Environments , 2003 .

[9]  Michael J. Singer,et al.  Measuring Presence in Virtual Environments: A Presence Questionnaire , 1998, Presence.

[10]  Wijnand A. IJsselsteijn,et al.  Presence: concept, determinants, and measurement , 2000, Electronic Imaging.

[11]  Mel Slater,et al.  A note on presence terminology , 2003 .

[12]  Patrick Henry Winston,et al.  The psychology of computer vision , 1976, Pattern Recognit..

[13]  A. Giddens.  The consequences of modernity , 1990 .

[14]  L. W. Brandt,et al.  ‘Reality,’ What Does it Mean? , 1969 .

[15]  Martijn J. Schuemie,et al.  Research on Presence in Virtual Reality: A Survey , 2001, Cyberpsychology Behav. Soc. Netw..

[16]  S. Kraemer.  Steps to an Ecology of Mind: Gregory Bateson , 1993, British Journal of Psychiatry.

[17]  K. Gergen.  THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIONIST MOVEMENT IN MODERN PSYCHOLOGY , 1985 .

[18]  Ralph Schroeder.  Social Interaction in Virtual Environments: Key Issues, Common Themes, and a Framework for Research , 2005 .

[19]  Mel Slater,et al.  Measuring Presence: A Response to the Witmer and Singer Presence Questionnaire , 1999, Presence.

[20]  M. Csíkszentmihályi.  Beyond boredom and anxiety , 1975 .

[21]  W. IJsselsteijn,et al.  Elements of a multi-level theory of presence: phenomenology, mental processing and neural correlates , 2002 .

[22]  Giuseppe Riva,et al.  Being there : the experience of presence in mediated environments , 2003 .

[23]  Mel Slater,et al.  A Framework for Immersive Virtual Environments (FIVE): Speculations on the Role of Presence in Virtual Environments , 1997, Presence: Teleoperators & Virtual Environments.

[24]  Mel Slater,et al.  A Virtual Presence Counter , 2000, Presence: Teleoperators & Virtual Environments.

[25]  Hunter G. Hoffman,et al.  Modulation of thermal pain-related brain activity with virtual reality: evidence from fMRI , 2004, Neuroreport.

[26]  J. Blascovich.  Social influence within immersive virtual environments , 2002 .

[27]  Rom Harré,et al.  The Social construction of emotions , 1986 .

[28]  E. Goffman.  Behavior in public places : notes on the social organization of gatherings , 1964 .

[29]  Marvin Minsky,et al.  A framework for representing knowledge , 1974 .

[30]  Frank Biocca,et al.  The Cyborg's Dilemma: Progressive Embodiment in Virtual Environments , 2006, J. Comput. Mediat. Commun..