Making Sense of Space

5

Two models to conceptualize space

Abstract:

This chapter describes the ways in which digital and virtual spaces are experienced. It argues that the open exploration of spaces and the temporary and random encounters within them give rise to the sense of virtual worlds as being an inhabited place. The chapter discusses the emotional agency with which we imbue spaces and introduces the concept that virtual places require the engagement of belief. This concept is accompanied by a discussion of Activity Theory and its use as a framework to describe the elements and context for experience. The omissions of Activity Theory in its role in understanding the experience of virtual worlds are identified as the situated experience of being in the space, ...