Tincuta Heinzel Parv

One of the major issues in the current research on virtual reality is how to induce the feeling of reality in the experiencing subject. In this sense the phenomenon of phantom sensations appears to be a paradigmatic case of VR. However, in contrast to the artificially induced VR experience, phantom sensations are linked to the strong feeling of their reality. Therefore, we characterise the subjective experience of phantom sensations by superpresence, as opposed to the artificially induced VR experience characterised by telepresence. Our hypothesis is that this phenomenological difference originates in the fact that phantom sensations represent a case of unmediated VR. This unmediated VR experience is essentially different from any technologically induced VR because it can be traced back to the epistemic abilities and limitations of the brain itself

The present issue of Studia Philosophia is dedicated to the phenomenology of digital technologies. Penetrating and transforming everyday practices and spaces, today''s digital technologies are defining our present epistemological paradigm, creating new models of understanding different aspects of reality. Communication technologies and portable media devices are today increasingly ubiquitous and personalized. The changes they produced compel us to reconsider the conditioning of our modern lives while their potential requires further exploration