Posthumanistic transformation of the subject in the "virtual personal presence" at the ontological level

Nikonov Sergey Borisovich ORCID: 0000-0002-8340-1541 Doctor of Politics Professor of the Department of International Journalism, St. Petersburg State University 199034, Russia, Saint Petersburg, Universitetskaya str., 7/9, 707 NikonovS@mail.ru Other publications by this author     E YUi-CHien' Postgraduate student; Department of International Journalism; St. Petersburg State University 199034, Russia, Saint Petersburg, Universitetskaya nab., 7/9 n.labush@spbu.ru Baichik Anna Vitalievna ORCID: 0000-0003-0527-5858 Doctor of Politics Professor, Department of International Journalism, St. Petersburg State University 199034, Russia, Saint Petersburg, Universitetskaya str., 7/9 annabaichik@gmail.com Other publications by this author

Labush Nikolai Sergeevich Doctor of Politics Professor, Department of International Journalism, St. Petersburg State University 199034, Russia, Saint Petersburg, Universitetskaya str., 7/9 n.labush@spbu.ru

Introduction

The main difference between VR technology and previous media technologies is that in an artificially generated virtual environment, it is able to create for a person a feeling of complete immersion, or a kind of feeling of "personal presence" (as if there and now). Such a phenomenon of "virtual personal presence" is usually interpreted as the result of passive perception of the action of external technologies, or simply as a change in subjective experience caused by sensory stimuli. However, this approach, based on the dualism of subject and object, simply considers virtual reality technology as a means available to a person for use or entertainment, while man and technology are in an external relationship. If we free ourselves from the dualistic opposite way of thinking about the world and look at the situation from a different perspective, we will see that the experience of immersion in virtual reality technology has a profound impact on a person's lifestyle.

In the phenomenology of physicality by the French philosopher Merleau-Ponty, the perceptual body occupies an important place in understanding the relationship between man and the world. The body (understood by us as a human being) is not only a material object, but also an area of human perception and practice where the physical and mental state merge [Merleau-Ponty, 2008: 99]. In other words, the body is a way of human interaction with the world and the basis of human existence in it. In this sense, the world for a person is not an object that is in contrast to him as subjects, but appears to a person in the form of a concretized embodiment, and becomes a real life sphere of a person depending on the perceptual activities of the body.

Based on this phenomenology, it can be assumed that when a person is immersed in virtual reality, the connection between him and the virtual world is not reduced to a simple dualistic relationship between subject and object, but to the experience of the mutual interweaving of bodily sensations of a person and a virtual environment. This phenomenon of "virtual personal presence" refers not only to direct stimuli for human feelings by external technologies, but also to the fact that it expands the ways of human existence in virtual space and can have a profound impact on the construction of human subjectivity.

The relevance of this research is due to the growing commercialization and integration of "virtual reality" technology into everyday life, which requires understanding its impact on the user's experience and the construction of human subjectivity, as well as the potential for modifying human interaction with the outside world.

Scientific development of the study

The question of the essence of virtual reality causes different interpretations among scientists, which can be divided into explanations based on the external technological aspect and explanations based on the internal philosophical aspect.

Explanations on the technological aspect generally agree. For example, the American computer artist Myron Kruger believes that virtual reality is a three—dimensional reality created using glasses capable of reproducing stereoscopic vision and sensory devices [Kruger, 1991: XIII]. American scientists Grigor Burdia and Philip Koffe note that virtual reality is a high-level interface of human-machine interaction that simulates and interacts between a person and a machine in real time through the experience of sensory perception organs such as sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste, and combines immersion, interaction and imagination into one whole. As an artificial environment, it, in a sense, carries out a synthesis of realistic reality and artificial reality [Burdia, Koffe, 2003: 3]. In general, interpretations on the technological aspect include an electronic simulation environment and associated electronic equipment systems such as special visual helmets or goggles, sensory gloves and sensory clothing.

The philosophical aspect of the study of the essence of virtual reality is mainly related to understanding the relationship between "virtuality" and "reality", as well as questions about the experiences and experiences received by a person in this context.

American scientist Michael Heim, in his work "From interface to Cyberspace: the metaphysics of virtual Reality", defines virtual reality from the point of view of semantics as "events or objects that are true in a practical, but not in an actual sense." In other words, virtual reality technology can mimic the properties and functions of real things, thereby creating a sense of reality, however, it is not actually equivalent to real objects or actual reality. The scientist summarizes seven main characteristics of virtual reality: imitativeness, interactivity, artificiality, immersiveness, remote perception, immersion of the whole body in network communication [Heim, 2000: 111-132].

Russian scientist and philosopher V. M. Rozin considers virtual reality as a "reality of symbols" based on computer technologies and emphasizes the effectiveness of human behavior in the virtual world [Rozin, 2018: 196-197].

French philosopher Pierre Levy believes that the virtual is different from error and imagination, and it represents a reality that separately coexists independently of reality, and a combination of trends or forces associated with certain situations, while it connects with reality in the creative process [Levy, 1998: 15-34].

The English scientist Christopher Horrocks argues that virtual reality is an expansion of the senses and a return to reality, not an escape from it [Horrocks, 2005: 69-92].

According to American scientist Jonathan Stoyer, the key to understanding virtual reality lies in the human experience, not in hardware technical equipment. The scientist uses the concepts of "personal presence" and "remote presence" to explain virtual reality, considering personal presence as a natural direct experience of environmental consciousness and remote presence as a perceptual experience of the environment created using media technologies. Thus, he defines virtual reality as a real or simulated environment that allows a person to gain the experience of remote presence [Stoyer, 1995: 33-65].

The conceptual framework used

Virtual Reality (VR) technology is computer technology combined with related scientific technologies to create a digital environment that largely mimics the real environment in audiovisual and tactile aspects. Users use the necessary equipment to interact with objects in a digital environment, which allows them to get experiences that are similar to being in a real environment [Zhao Qingping, 2009: 2].

As a new type of emerging media technology, the most attractive feature of virtual reality technology lies in its ability to provide a person with a deeply immersed sense of "personal presence". Compared to traditional video technologies, such technology to a certain extent overcomes the barrier created by the screen, allowing the user to no longer just observe from the side, but really enter that world and directly experience and feel themselves directly. Thus, it shows us not only images, but also gives us access to an open, virtual and, at the same time, real world.

Virtual reality technology is generally considered to have three main characteristics: "immersive experience," "interactivity," and "creativity." These characteristics were first proposed by American scientists Burdia and Coffett in their work "The system and application of virtual reality", and subsequently received wide recognition. With the development of virtual reality technology towards intellectualization, these existing characteristics gradually evolved, adding the feature of "intelligence" to the original basis [Zhao Qingping, 2017:1].

The feeling of immersion is the most key and attractive feature of the virtual reality experience. Thanks to highly realistic simulation of the environment, multisensory stimuli and effective attention-getting, the user is able to deeply integrate and feel his state as a real presence directly in a virtual environment, which allows him to temporarily ignore the existence of an external physical environment. In such an environment, the user not only sees himself as a part of the virtual world, but can also fully immerse himself, deeply experiencing this new and unusual world.

Interactivity is a characteristic of virtual reality that allows users to interact with objects of this environment in the environment created by it, influence them and receive appropriate feedback. Instead of relying on traditional input devices such as mice or keyboards, interaction takes place directly at the level of the user's bodily sensations using wearable helmet displays, touch gloves, touch clothing, and so on. This approach of interaction brings the objects of the virtual environment closer to the user, strengthening his connection with the virtual world. The more natural the interaction and the more realistic the feedback, the more the feeling of immersion in this world increases.

Creativity implies that immersive and interactive virtual reality environments can inspire the imagination and creativity of users, which allows such a technique to demonstrate the enormous potential of wide application in the field of scientific research, product design and development, artistic creativity, etc.

Intelligence is the direction of the future development of virtual reality technology, and the goal is to create intelligent models that can develop themselves and have vital characteristics. In other words, the construction of a virtual reality environment will gradually move beyond the traditional static geometric and physical models, developing in the direction of dynamic, more complex geometric and physical models. This will allow the virtual reality system to create a more realistic visual perception, improve simulated displays in aspects of environmental dynamics and events, intellectualize the behavior of living objects and others, with the ideal goal of recreating an ever-changing world [GISRTIVR, 2016].

Axiological aspects of journalism

Russian scientist K.R. Nigmatullina believes that "journalism as a science intersects with almost all areas of humanitarian knowledge, especially philosophy, since it describes and uses cognition as a methodological tool. The whole world around us becomes the object of knowledge in journalism practice. and the objects of knowledge of journalism, considered as a science, include such ontological categories as, for example, values" [Nigmatullina, 2008:140]. These characteristics show that virtual reality technology, in essence, focuses on the state and way of human existence, referring to a more humanized technique that deeply reflects the "personal presence" of a person in the world of virtual reality. In simple words, personal presence means that the user is not an external observer of changes in the virtual image, but personally enters or is in a virtual, but active and specific environment. In this case, when interacting with the user, the environment will change accordingly, and the user also becomes part of the environment, together forming a world that is constantly changing. Thus, it is precisely this "sense of personal presence" that distinguishes virtual reality technology from previous media technologies. It is no longer just a technical tool, but on a deeper level has an impact on the state and patterns of human existence.

With the development of virtual reality (VR) technology, the phenomenon of "virtual personal presence" is not limited only to subjective experience caused by external technological stimuli, but represents an expansion of the ontological structure of human existence in the virtual dimension, which, in turn, has a profound impact on the construction of human subjectivity. In this context, the traditional humanistic view of subjectivity is no longer insufficient to explain the change in subjectivity in virtual reality technology, but it is being replaced by a posthumanistic way of thinking.

According to the German philosopher Martin Heidegger, Western history has entered the final phase of modernity, characterized by the fact that man has become the yardstick and center of beings. Man is not only the basis for all beings, but also the basis for all modern objectifications and representativeness [Heidegger, 2015: 747]. However, with the rapid development of digital virtual technologies, artificial intelligence and other high technologies, the primordial simplicity of the inner essence of man is being undermined, and the traditional position of the subject is also fluctuating. This requires a rethinking of the concept of "man" and the state of his existence, which gradually leads to the formation of the current of posthumanism.

In contrast to humanistic views, posthumanism believes that "man" is no longer a protected privileged center, that the boundaries between man, animals and machines are fuzzy, that man is only the result of historical and cultural differences, and this makes it impossible to strive for any universal essence of man [Elliott, Bedmington, 2020: 72].

Posthumanism advocates decentralization and opposes both the understanding of the essence of man as an abstract substance and the binary opposition of subject and object. In fact, posthumanism does not object to the subjectivized understanding of man, but to the form of abstract subjects, which is assumed in traditional humanism, and tries, from the point of view of pluralism, differentiation and relativity, to rethink the meaning of human existence in the context of modern science and technology.

The emergence of posthumanism was influenced by the information-theoretical concept of life, according to which the essence of life is essentially an information mode of existence. Information is defined here as what we exchange with the external environment in the process of regulating it [Wiener, 2017: 3]. From the point of view of the information-theoretical concept of life, the inner essence of a person is no longer an abstract subject of consciousness, but an information regime, while the material body is only a temporary information carrier.

Conclusions

Informatization of the subject means that in the process of interaction with the virtual reality environment, a person as a subject is no longer an isolated substance, but expresses his existence through informatization.

The concept of "virtual personal presence" provides a person with a framework for ontological expansion in the virtual dimension, therefore, the activity of virtual reality has a profound influence on the subjective construction of a person, characterized by posthumanistic features.

Along with this, such influence at the level of ontology is mainly manifested in the virtualization and informatization of the subject. Virtualization of the subject not only shows the expansion of subjectivity in the virtual dimension, but also expresses that it always retains an ever-changing, plastic potential; informatization of the subject implies that in the activity of virtual reality, the subject represents his existence in the form of a specific information structure.

List of abbreviations

1. GISRTIVR is a group of research strategies for the development of technologies and the virtual reality industry