Paper Short Abstract:

Through participant observation in VR communities, this study examines how users’ embodiment and technological interaction shape varied cultural Umwelts, suggesting a reevaluation of anthropological vocabulary to conceptualize virtual place and culture.

Paper Abstract:

This study examines the ways in which digital environments become familiar to their users. Challenging Boellstorff’s assertion that social immersion tied to being in one online place is more critical than sensory interfaces (like Virtual Reality, or VR) for online community and identity formation, our research suggests a more nuanced picture. Our analysis is based on participant observation and interviews within various VR communities. VR is a unique medium and arguably the first truly embodied mediated experience which constitutes a virtual place akin to physical reality, leading to profound engagement with virtual worlds. Our focal observation is that there are many “cultures” inside VR: users display different patterns of relating to their digital selves and environment depending on how they are present there and how they employ its resources. This diversity is attributed to the unique embodiment and sensations provided by 3D avatars, presence modalities, technological proficiency, and social connections. We suggest exploring the conceptual potential of the Umwelt notion, initially used to describe the biological agent-object relations and later adapted in linguistic anthropology to understand the process of familiarizing oneself with a technologically saturated environment. This approach allows us to explore how VR affords the progressive accumulation of diversity, wherein users create varied interpretations and interactions within the same online space. Our fieldwork illustrates these varied cultural Umwelts in VR settings. This study offers a critical reassessment of anthropological vocabulary used for digital environments and presents a compelling alternative to the commonly used concept of affordances.