Thirteenth International Conference on The Image

Abstract

The term metaverse characterizes computer-supported media in which primarily image-based forms of virtual realities, augmented realities, and mixed realities can be communicated. Considering these three media forms, two peculiarities stand out. First, pictorial signs create an immersive experience that makes images largely obsolete as a classic form of visual communication. And second, the three media forms cause social constructions of pictorial realities to become increasingly elastic. The paper shows how communicated realities in images are becoming more elastic to vary between fact, fake and fiction, or between sign and matter. Societies construct their image-based knowledge, but this remains purposeful only if consensual corridors guide what is to be considered real, virtual, current, and moral. Further, the often misunderstood oppositions between real and virtual are taken up to argue that the virtual is real but not actual. The social construction of image-based knowledge creates a virtual reality in the metaverse. This virtual reality is collectively experienced as real, but in its materiality, it is often said to lack actuality. In the last century, the screen still protected the viewer from contact with the physical world. In the 21st century, the viewer is supposed to feel immersively involved in order to intensify real contact with a virtual matter and virtual energy. The study explores the question: How elastic can image-based knowledge be in order to seem action-oriented when the actuality of virtual realities is collectively determined?

Presenters

Andreas Schelske
Professor, Institute for Media Economics and Journalism / Department Management, Information, Technology, Jade University of Applied Sciences, Niedersachsen, Germany