Open AccessVirtual Reality-driven serious communication: Through VR-Dialogue towards VR-Participation
Author(s) -
Lukasz Porwol,
Adegboyega Ojo
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
information polity
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.582
H-Index - 35
eISSN - 1875-8754
pISSN - 1570-1255
DOI - 10.3233/ip-210331
Subject(s) - affordance , virtual reality , key (lock) , constructive , context (archaeology) , computer science , argumentation theory , component (thermodynamics) , human–computer interaction , epistemology , paleontology , philosophy , physics , thermodynamics , computer security , process (computing) , biology , operating system
e-Participation depends on a community of users-citizens who constructively engage and collaborate with governments and decision-makers on key democratic and social matters. Effective serious communication requires meaningful social interactions supported by relevant community-building efforts. We argue that achieving that is more visible by engaging dialogue with a constructive shared viewpoint rather than thorough discussions or argumentation. The emerging social Immersive Virtual Reality technologies supply a novel mode of digital communication that brings an opportunity to overcome some of the challenges hindering e-Participation. In this paper, we present the key concepts and explore the principles of Dialogue in the context of serious communication. We link those principles with specific Immersive VR affordances and propose a Framework for Virtual-Reality-Mediated Serious Communication – VR-Dialogue. Finally, we discuss the implications of employing that framework to support e-Participation through an additional component: VR-Participation.