Presence & Immersion
It is important to understand the distinction between presence and immersion when discussing Virtual Reality (VR). Presence is the illusion that one experiences in a virtual world, which is perceptual and not cognitive by nature and causes the body to react before it realises that what it is experiencing is not real (Slater, 2018). As presence is a perceptual concept and therefore subjective, peoples experience of presence may inevitably vary. This may be important as varying levels of presence within a virtual environment could lead to different experiences and may be a challenge in the pursuit of consistency. Interestingly, presence can be stimulated using immersive VR (Schubert et al., 2001), indicating some interdependence on immersion.
On the other hand, immersion is the isolation of the 'senses' such as visual and auditory from the real world (Kim and Biocca, 2018). Furthermore, immersion is typically achieved using peripheral devices, isolating more than one of the senses (Mikropoulos and Natsis, 2011). Others have suggested that given the dominance of vision as a perceptual tool, visual immersion is usually enough for participants to become immersed (Slater and Sanchez-Vives, 2016). However, logically if one were visually immersed but could hear background noise that was inconsistent with the virtual experience, it would be debatable as to their level of immersion. This could suggest that levels of immersion exist rather than immersion being binary in its existence.
The link between presence and immersion
Whilst presence and immersion have been introduced as two distinct concepts, research has linked them in many ways. Kern et al. (2020) found that the sense of hearing, one of the senses associated with immersion, can be positively correlated to presence when participants were exposed to sounds consistent with real-life experiences. This could suggest that immersion described by some as the isolation of the senses could also be a perceptual concept. After all, a spatialised sound heard through headphones is not the ear hearing a real sound. Instead, it hears a digital representation of sound, which is virtual.
Further evidence of the link between presence and immersion exists in a study (Riva et al., 2007) that examined the impact of emotion on presence. Presence and emotions were positively correlated to one another in so far as where participants experienced more emotional environments, they became more present and their emotional being was subject to the level of presence experienced (Riva et al., 2007). This could be suggestive of an inter-dependence between presence and immersion. Regarding immersion, this inter-dependence could be one of both the physical aspects that comprise the senses and the mental component, which could be perceptual.
Conclusion
The research seems to indicate that presence and immersion are key components of virtual experiences and that they are related in many ways but also distinct in some too. Failing to consider the importance of presence and immersion and their relationship with one another in the creation of virtual environments, could lead to inconsistencies and poor experiences for those in such virtual environments.