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The Phenomenology of Real and Virtual Places

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This collection of essays explores the history, implications, and usefulness of phenomenology for the study of real and virtual places. While the influence of phenomenology on architecture and urban design has been widely acknowledged, its effect on the design of virtual places and environments has yet to be exposed to critical reflection. These essays from philosophers, cultural geographers, designers, architects, and archaeologists advance the connection between phenomenology and the study of place. The book features historical interpretations on this topic, as well as context-specific and place-centric applications that will appeal to a wide range of scholars across disciplinary boundaries. The ultimate aim of this book is to provide more helpful and precise definitions of phenomenology that shed light on its growth as a philosophical framework and on its development in other disciplines concerned with the experience of place.
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... Millions of teachers and students are facing great challenges in dealing with both the lack of face-to-face interactions in traditional pedagogical spaces and the compulsive implementation of old and new digital education platforms (Decuypere et al. 2021). Thus, the pandemic has accelerated ongoing processes of digitalization, consolidating a prior understanding of the digital as identical to the virtual or as its most apparent expression (Champion 2019;Grimshaw 2014;Nardi 2015;Ollinaho 2018). Within these processes, little room is left for critical reflections on the relationships between corporeality, virtuality and digitality. ...
... However, this difference does not mean that the experience of the virtual classroom is the experience of something inauthentic or less real. Rather, the virtual classroom can be regarded as a virtual place that demands specific ways of involvement, engagement and attachment (Champion 2019;Relph 2007). Certain experiences and practices in the virtual classroom can develop a specific sense of place that is not so much based on sharing a physical space, but on sharing a feeling of 'being there' and 'being together' involved in both individual and collective activities (Lehman and Conceiçao 2010;Osler 2020). ...
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In a context of pervasive digitalization of the social world, both before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, the field of education has undergone major changes with the development of digital practices and settings. However, the physical presence of the subjects and the body remain something primordial and irreplaceable in traditional educational processes. Thus, it is often assumed that virtuality is opposed to the corporeal reality of the subjects involved in teaching, learning and studying. In this paper we aim to critically challenge this assumption by addressing the phenomenon of virtuality in a more original sense: as a fundamental dimension of corporeality itself. Drawing on Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenological insights, we argue that the experience of the virtual is inherently embodied and fully real. We understand corporeality and virtuality as entangled and multidimensional phenomena. At the same time, this leads us to rethink the digital as only one possible medium in which virtuality can appear as inherent to embodied experience. We develop our phenomenological approach in three instances. First, we question and bracket two common assumptions about corporeality. From our critical perspective, assumptions about a disembodied digitality and a devirtualized corporeality represent extremes within which educational discourses currently move. Second, we address the inherent virtuality of embodied experience. We outline the heuristic concept of the virtual body (Merleau-Ponty) to describe corporeality and virtuality as entangled and multidimensional phenomena that encompass extension, intercorporeality and intermediality. Finally, we make some remarks on the relationships of corporeality and virtuality considering the challenges of digital education.
... Fokus penelitian ini adalah ruang nyata yang dipahami dan dilihat melalui media internet dan tidak ada hubungannya dengan 'dunia kedua'. Di era kehidupan maya, secara teoritis ada pemahaman konfrontasi tentang penampilan dan tempat yang erat kaitannya dengan fenomenologi (Malcolm, 2018). ...
... Mengalami ruang hampir tidak mungkin tanpa membayangkan kaitannya dengan tatanan lanskap sekitarnya yang mengarah pada fenomena ruang (Relph, 2019). Secara eksplisit fenomenologi memiliki hubungan yang kuat dengan tempat dalam hal topologi/topografi atau kenampakan ruang (Malcolm, 2018). Faktor penting lain yang disoroti Malcom adalah keberadaan waktu dalam ruang selain penampilan. ...
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Kondisi pandemi corona membuat sebagian besar dari kita beradaptasi dengan kebiasaan baru. Keterbatasan untuk menuju berbagai tempat wisata secara fisik, membuat alternatif objek wisata bermunculan. Salah satunya adalah wisata virtual, sebuah media digital yang diatur sedemikian rupa agar dapat memberikan pengalaman maupun sensasi akan sebuah ruang wisata. Salah satu objek yang paling banyak dikonversi ke dalam media digital adalah museum. Media yang digunakan juga beragam, tidak hanya sebatas foto foto tidak bergerak, namun ada video, bahkan tur virtual yang interaktif. Tur interaktif ini dinavigasikan oleh perangkat digital, sehingga pengunjung bisa merasakan sensasi ruang berjalan jalan layaknya berada pada bangunan fisik. Studi ini ingin mempelajari apakah tur virtual bisa menggantikan keseluruhan sensasi indera manusia, walaupun sebenarnya yang dominan adalah indera penglihatan. Ada anggapan bahwa sensasi kadang terbentuk dari memori dan persepsi yang sudah dimiliki oleh masing masing orang sebelumnya, tidak hanya sebatas rangsangan langsung pada masing masing indera.
... The final aim is the achievement of a so called "simulation slice" of that very specific context/ object, which is the actual aspect of that context/object in a given period of time [4]. In the context of scientific visualisation, the main challenge is the achievement of a good balance between the accurate representation of scientific data (computed or stored in databases) and the visual quality of the virtual experience itself [5][6][7][8][9]. Traditional scientific software relies on custom tools meant to be used on conventional terminals or software developed with mouse and keyboard in mind. ...
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In the field of digital humanities, it is increasingly necessary to develop and validate virtual reality tools that are capable of combining various scientific data in a virtualized context providing also access and user friendly consultation of online repositories. This paper reports the main aspects of the implementation of a virtual reality tool integrated with an online repository for storing 3D models, metadata and chemical analyses related to different sectors of digital humanities. The virtual reality software, developed for the Oculus Quest 2 hardware, is called PROTEUS and allows for seamless transition from the macroscopic world of digital humanities to the microscopic world of molecular sciences. The paper illustrates, by means of some case studies, the performances of this innovative tool that permits the researcher to understand and manipulate objects, to test hypotheses and to seek meaningful results, visualising the metadata while changing the parameters of the simulation in a dynamic and interactive way. This represents also a significant step forward in the democratisation of science, thanks to an user-friendly and immersive access to advanced scientific algorithms, which allow the natural perception of structural and topological features of the underlying molecular and supra-molecular systems. Graphical Abstract
... The current state of the art in cultural heritage and new technologies learning in university syllabuses is undermined and new learning management approaches that combine blended programs (in a classroom and from distance) benefits the self-efficacy of students [1]. The various tools used to study material culture and interpret the data and the results derive from the disciplines of information technology, geodesy, GIS, 3D, and virtual reality [2][3][4][5]. ...
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The cyber archaeometry concerns a new virtual ontology in the environment of cultural heritage and archaeology. The present study concerns a first pivot endeavor of a virtual polarized light microscopy (VPLM) for archaeometric learning, made from digital tools, tackling the theory of mineral identification in archaeological materials, an important aspect in characterization, provenance, and ancient technology. This endeavor introduces the range of IT computational methods and instrumentation techniques available to the study of cultural heritage and archaeology of apprentices, educators, and specialists. Use is made of virtual and immersive reality, 3D, virtual environment, massively multiplayer online processes, and gamification. The VPLM simulation is made with the use of Avatar in the time-space frame of the laboratory with navigation, exploration, control the learning outcomes in connection to the archaeometric multisystem work. The students evidently learned to operate the VPLM following operations made via visual and home-made scripting, gaining experience in synergy, teamwork, and understanding. The resulting meaningful effects of the cyber-archaeometry with virtual operations and virtual hands, texts, and video equip students especially for e-learning with the required basic knowledge of mineralogical examination, which help to understand and evaluate mineral identification from material culture and provides readiness and capacity, which may be refined in a real polarized light microscopy (PLM) environment.
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Beberapa diskusi kekinian tentang realitas ruang virtual menunjukkan bahwa ruang virtual dapat memediasi kehadiran antarsubjek dan menciptakan relasi yang bermakna. Artikel ini hendak menguji realisasi gagasan ini pada sebuah ruang komunikasi virtual bernama Clubhouse yang sempat marak menjadi perbincangan. Clubhouse merupakan aplikasi media sosial yang memungkinkan pengguna untuk terkoneksi secara langsung hanya melalui medium suara serta tanpa teks, gambar, foto, atau video. Awalnya, Clubhouse dibuka hanya untuk pengguna yang memiliki akses undangan dari pengguna sebelumnya. Akan tetapi, belakangan aplikasi ini dapat diakses secara bebas oleh seluruh pengguna internet tanpa undangan. Jika aplikasi Clubhouse dibaca sebagai sebuah “teks kultural,” akan ditemukan nilai-nilai yang bersinggungan dengan nilai-nilai Injil, yaitu tentang eksklusivitas dan inklusivitas, serta unsur memberi diri dalam sebuah relasi. Melaluipembacaan ini, Clubhouse dinilai dapat dijadikan salah satu alternatif ruang menjalin relasi, jika penggunaannya diimbangi dengan penciptaan konteks atau kondisi yang memastikan pengguna menyadari dan mengupayakan kesengajaan akan keberadaan dirinya; serta mengoptimalkan pemenuhan gambaran mental melalui ragam jejak kehadiran.
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The 21st century has brought fundamental changes in the development of cities, with the spread of ICT and the rise of digitalization. The new technologies are increasingly making their mark on urban planning and policy as well. The question of how contemporary urban planning is adapting to new challenges is particularly relevant as neighborhoods built in previous centuries and decades by traditional planning methods are now increasingly confronted with new public andenvironmental demands. Despite the bad reputation of Budapest’s 8th district, Józsefváros, based on the socio‐economic and urban problems it has continuously faced in the past, the neighborhood has become one of the most dynamically developing urban areas in the last decade. From a planning point of view, an exciting area of the district is Szigony Street and its wider surroundings due to the strongly fragmented, heterogeneous urban fabric. Nevertheless, the only high‐rise mass housing estate built in Budapest’s historic inner city in the 1960s and 1970s is located there. Our research used a complex methodology (document, content and database analysis, fieldwork, surveys with professionals, and interviews) to explore the planning history of the area’s development. Ultimately, the aim was to identify the most important outcomes and consequences of traditional and contemporary planning and design and whether modern digital planning can make a meaningful contribution to the development of the neighborhood. Our results show that urban planning and development in Budapest are still essentially based on traditional top‐down approaches. Digitalization has a role to play primarily in visualization and contextualization but digitalizing of planning alone will not solve problems and past planning mistakes that affect the urban fabric of a neighborhood.
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This article discusses the postdigital as a term that can be used to describe either a contemporary disenchantment with digital information systems and media gadgets, or a period in which our fascination with these systems and gadgets has become historical. After Edward Snowden’s disclosures of the NSA’s all-pervasive digital surveillance systems, this disenchantment has quickly grown from a niche ‘hipster’ phenomenon to a mainstream position — one which is likely to have a serious impact on all cultural and business practices based on networked electronic devices and Internet services.
Book
Unser Alltag ist von technisch erzeugter Virtualität nicht nur geprägt - er wird in vielen Bereichen durch sie bestimmt. Die Informationsgesellschaft pflegt einen selbstverständlichen Umgang mit sich immer weiter entwickelnden technischen Geräten. Als Schein oder Unwirklichkeit konnotiert, bleiben die neuen Phänomene der Virtualität dabei jedoch weitgehend unreflektiert. Tobias Holischkas phänomenologische Analyse zeigt, dass insbesondere der virtuelle Ort als versammelndes Prinzip eine Realität schafft, die - ganz im Gegensatz zum abstrakten Konzept des Cyberspace - eine ontologische Verbindung zur menschlichen Alltagswelt herstellt und sie auf diese Weise erweitert.
Chapter
Our fine arts were developed, their types and uses were established, in times very different from the present, by men whose power of action upon things was insignificant in comparison with ours. But the amazing growth of our techniques, the adaptability and precision they have attained, the ideas and habits they are creating, make it a certainty that profound changes are impending in the ancient craft of the Beautiful. In all the arts there is a physical component which can no longer be considered or treated as it used to be, which cannot remain unaffected by our modern knowledge and power. For the last twenty years neither matter nor space nor time has been what it was from time immemorial. We must expect great innovations to transform the entire technique of the arts, thereby affecting artistic invention itself and perhaps even bring about an amazing change in our very notion of art. © 2019 selection and editorial matter, Sheila Watson, Amy Jane Barnes and Katy Bunning; individual chapters, the contributors.