New Publication:
The changing face of VR: Pushing the boundaries of experience across multiple industries
By Jordan Frith, Michael Saker (Eds.)
Publisher: Vernon Press (July 2022)
ISBN-10: 1648894747
ISBN-13: 978-1-64889-474-9
195 pages
https://vernonpress.com/book/1553
https://www.amazon.com/changing-face-boundaries-experience-industries/dp/1648894747
[From the air-l listserv]
Hi all,
I’m happy to announce that my new edited book about VR is now available for purchase (or to get libraries to purchase or whatever). I think the book could be relevant to some people on this list, so I figured I’d share. Right now only a hardback is available, which is expensive, but if it interests any of you, it might be worth asking your library to get a copy. Also a paperback and eBook should be coming out sometime soon at a lower price. And of course, in the meantime…if you want a sample or something and don’t want to buy an overpriced book, contact me and I have some page proofs.
Anyways, the collection is about how VR is being used in multiple industries. Most VR work focuses on gaming or social media, so we went the other way with it and looked at everything from VR in museums to anti-racist work to dance performances to environmental rhetoric. I think one of the strengths of the collection is that we have authors from 5 different continents and multiple disciplines, and we also have a mix of practitioners and academics. For example, there’s a chapter from a museum curator and a screenwriter who writes scripts for VR.
If any of you are interested, I’d also be happy to chat about it. Don’t hesitate to reach out!
Jordan Frith, Ph.D.
Pearce Professor of Professional Communication
Clemson University
frithjh@gmail.com
https://jordanfrith.com/
—
[From Vernon Press]
DESCRIPTION
VR occupies an interesting place in the media ecosystem. On the one hand, it is an emerging, ‘cutting-edge’ technology backed by billions of USD by major corporations. On the other hand, VR is older than the World Wide Web and older than social networking sites. After many years of hype and unfulfilled potential, VR is now finally on the precipice of widespread adoption and has begun to be used in novel ways throughout various industries. This edited collection brings together a diverse group of authors to analyse the current state of VR, while recognizing that these many different use-cases will likely become even more important with the increased investment in the technology.
To examine the current state of VR across multiple sites and industries, we compiled a group of practitioners and academics to both examine VR practices and theorize new uses of VR. The book also focuses on an inclusive analysis and includes authors from South America, North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia, and the topics range from analyses of VR use in live events to the ethics of nature-based VR apps to the social practices involved in using public VR at museum exhibits. As we argue in the introduction, this book is one of the first to bring together authors from different backgrounds and disciplines to chart just how widely VR has already spread. And maybe most importantly, the topics covered in this book will only become more relevant as VR continues to grow, especially in the wake of the growth of the supposed Metaverse.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface
David P. Parisi
College of Charleston
Chapter 1
Introduction: The winding road of Virtual Reality (VR) development
Jordan Frith
Clemson University
Michael Saker
City University London
Chapter 2
VR storytelling for social justice and the ethics of playing Black bodies
Christopher Maraffi
North Carolina State University
Chapter 3
An embodied poetics: Screenwriting for immersive media
Rafael Leal
Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Chapter 4
Taking stock: VR in journalism
Hannah Greber
University of Vienna, Austria
Chapter 5
Table for Two – A parallel interactive narrative in VR (PIN VR)
Delwyn Jude Remedios
Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad, India
Deepak John Mathew
Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad, India
Max Schleser
Swinburne University
Chapter 6
VR’s growing role in establishing environmental empathy and its potential to model complex climate systems
Mary Le Rouge
Cleveland Institute of Music
Chapter 7
Designing with care ethics in nature-based VR
Kailan Sindelar
University of North Florida
Chapter 8
Being-there when there is not there: Live performance, social VR, and COVID-19
Leighton Evans
Swansea University
Michal Rzeszewski
Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan, Poland
Chapter 9
The Under Presents: The potential of the real in virtual theatre
Alicia Corts
Saint Leo University
Chapter 10
Curating for communal engagement in VR
Julia Salles
Université de Montréal
Jessie Marchessault
Independent Scholar
Bart Simon
Concordia University
Chapter 11
Exploring the phenomenology of VR-based exhibits in art museums
Eryn Parker
City University of London
Michael Saker
City University London