When Media Aren’t Media:
The Concept of
(Tele)presence
Matthew Lombard
Temple University
BTMM 3446/8446 March 2, 2010
Overview
• What is presence?
• Why is it important?
• What are causes and effects?
• What are research goals?
• Resources for learning more
What Is Presence?
The evolution of media technologies
- drawings, print, radio, film,
television, computers, videogames,
IMAX, simulator rides, virtual reality,
virtual worlds, artificial intelligence
agents…
What Is Presence?
… has produced mediated experiences
that seem increasingly natural,
intuitive, comfortable, easy,
automatic, because the technology
seems increasingly less like
technology.
What Is Presence?
•
•
•
•
•
•
Transportation
Realism
Immersion
Social richness
Social actor within medium
Medium as social actor
What Is Presence?
Presence as transportation
• “Being there” or “you are there”
• “It is here”
• “We are together” (shared space)
“You are there”
“You are there”
“You are there”
“You are there”
“It is here”
“It is here”
“It is here”
“It is here”
“We are there” (shared space)
What Is Presence?
Presence as realism
• Perceptual realism
• Social realism
Realism
Realism
Realism
What Is Presence?
Presence as immersion
Immersion
Immersion
What Is Presence?
Presence as social richness
Social Richness
• Social presence theory (Short, Williams, &
Christie, 1976) and media richness theory
(Rice, 1992)
• Medium characteristics allow for different
levels of intimacy and immediacy
• Developed to match communication media
and organizational tasks
Social Richness
What Is Presence?
Presence as social actor within medium
Social Actor within Medium
Social Actor Within Medium
Lara
Diki
T-babe
WebbieTookay
What Is Presence?
Presence as medium as social actor
Medium As Social Actor
Medium As Social Actor
Medium As Social Actor
Medium As Social Actor
Medium as Social Actor
Medium As Social Actor
What Is Presence?
•
•
•
•
•
Perceptual illusion of nonmediation
Real time during media use
Not a disorder or abnormal
Property of media user
Result of media form and content,
media user characteristics and media
context/environment
Why Is Presence Important?
• It’s ‘central’ – relates to many fields
and endeavors
• It will be increasingly common
• It has many potential effects
Causes of Presence
Form variables
Number of sensory outputs
Consistency of sensory outputs
Visual display characteristics
Image quality
** Image size **
** Viewing distance **
** Proportion of visual field **
Motion
Color
Dimensionality
Subjective camera techniques
Causes of Presence
Aural presentation characteristics
Quality (frequency range, dynamic
range, signal to noise ratio)
Spatialization (dimensionality)
Volume
Interactivity
Number of inputs from user the medium
accepts and responds to
Number and type of characteristics of
mediated presentation/experience
user can modify
Causes of Presence
Interactivity (cont’d)
Range or amount of change possible in
each characteristic user can modify
Degree of correspondence between type
of user input and type of medium
response
Speed of medium response (lag time)
Obtrusiveness of medium
Live versus recorded or constructed experience
Number of people
Causes of Presence
Content variables
Social realism
Use of media conventions (formula
plot/dialogue, etc.)
Nature of task or activity
Ambiguity
Difficulty
Emotionality
Causes of Presence
Media user variables
Willingness to suspend disbelief
Knowledge of and prior experience with the
medium
Personality type
Interests
Preferred representational system (visual,
auditory, or kinesthetic)
Cognitive style
Propensity to "screen" stimuli
Mood before/during/after media use
Age, Gender
Effects of Presence
Physiological
Arousal
Vection and simulation sickness (dizziness,
eyestrain, disorientation, dysphoria, standing
and walking unsteadiness, nausea)
Automatic responses (e.g., flinching,
ducking, grasping chair)
Reduced eye-hand coordination
Flashbacks
Illusory sensations (e.g., of climbing and
turning)
Reduced motor control
Effects of Presence
Psychological and Behavioral
Enjoyment
Involvement
Task performance
Skills training
Desensitization
Persuasion
Parasocial interaction and relationships
Memory and social judgment
Presence and Social Judgments
Presence and Social Judgments
Presence and Social Judgments
Presence and Social Judgments
Presence and Social Judgments
Presence Research
• Goals
– Identify and manipulate causes
– Understand and develop cohesive
theory of cognitive, affective, and
behavioral processes of telepresenc
– Identify, measure and manipulate
consequences of telepresence
Big Picture Questions
• How to maximize usefulness of
telepresence?
• What forms do people want and fear?
• Where will technology evolution take
us? (utopia vs. dystopia)
• How to deal with ethical challenges?
Resources for Learning More
• International Society for Presence
Research (ISPR): http://ispr.info
• Matthew Lombard
lombard@temple.edu
END