Augmented virtual identities: facilitating rehabilitation and societal reconnect

Abstract

Virtual worlds are well-known as being fantasy spaces sealed off from the real world, but more careful analysis reveals that the boundaries between the real and the virtual are quite porous. Participants or such experiences carry with them their unique set of subjective behavioral assumptions and attitudes that cannot be disentangled from their interactions in the virtual world and vice versa. Like the real world; these modeled worlds simulate appearances very similar to the real one or a hybrid fantasy; which also dictates the rules and conduct accordingly in the simulated world and potentially in the real world, depending on the immersive-ness of the experience. From a psychoanalytic viewpoint; these simulations of hybrid fantasies, aspirations or desires originate from within one's own self i.e. the 'unconscious' - a suppressed part of our being which finds itself in control and many a times pampered in these environments, transcending socio-economic, cultural, physical or psychological barriers. Be it engaging web portals, virtual environments, online multiplayer gaming or a simple Avatar on a common chat client; the depiction of this world is very similar to the real one, involving real-time actions, and communication, where the degree of immediacy may vary according to its usage, intent and design.