Participatory sense-making and knowing-in-connection in VR

Abstract

In this paper we discuss human interaction and connection in Virtual Reality (VR). We focus on knowing-in-connection (KiC), a form of participatory sense-making (PSM) in which individuals understand and influence each other's perspectives while managing their own normativities. We propose that, in humans, KiC involves existentially grasping what is at stake for others and oneself in a mutually caring relationship. Subsequently, we resort to the allusory nature of VR experiences to explore whether KiC can be fostered in VR. According to this view, there is a biological limit to VR experiences. We also draw on the enactive theory to emphasize the constitutive role of affection in cognitive processes and to consider how PSM in VR involves distributed affective qualities and body identities that modulate relationship norms and interactive asymmetries. We conclude that for linguistic bodies the existential dimension of PSM, which is proper of KiC, will most likely not be instantiated in virtual environments. For, the limitation of VR interactions is not only biological: in human interaction, the existential dimension is also affected and it cannot be fully engaged virtually.