Digital Images and Virtual Worlds

Abstract

The emergence of digital technologies has significantly changed the perception of visual content and how immersion—and in particular pictorial immersion—is defined and perceived. The same applies to terms such as simulation, simulacra, virtuality and of course virtual realities. Images often represent a certain aspect of reality that can be virtually transformed into something that can no longer be traced back to any reference system of reality. But there is much more than that: this concept allows for immersion which means to dive into the image. Immersion describes an effect of being exposed to illusory stimuli which fade into the background to such an extent that the so-created virtual environment is perceived as real and therefore it is important to specify the attributes of virtual image systems compared to images of traditional works of art or moving images such as cinema or videogames. Art historian and media theoretician Oliver Grau states that