So I went dancing the other night....

.....at Castle Loughrigg Club in SL. Why do I tell you this monumental cybernews? Because I think it was the first time I could honestly say I was "lost in cyberspace".We've talked about 'immersion' in cyberspace and varying levels of it but this was the first time that I actually felt myself very saliently dissociating. Let me set the scene. I randomly clicked on a location on the World Map as it seemed to have loads of people at it. I'd been wandering Campus SL and picking up lots of worthy notecards re. educational tools, etc but felt a bit lonely there (only one other guy wandering and browsing). So I "tp'ed" (teleported :p) to the Loughrigg place. When I got there I was pretty blown away. A fully fledged club; live DJ, light shows, magic floor, dance animations dotted around so that whereever you step while the music is playing you do the appropriate moves....cocktail bar with waiter....hosts to welcome you and about...hmmm....30 people dancing.

Where does the immersion aspect come in? Well a question....Why did, after a couple of hours of being there, listening to the DJ, talking to other people and dancing did I feel my attentional focus totally projected to 'that space' rather than the sitting room where I was typing? I guess it's that dissociation thing. And it's weird when you experience it and know you are. You kind of slip in and out of 'here' and 'there'. I found myself not only singing to the music but also dancing RL on he puter chair! I was TRULY 'into' that sector of cyberspace.

The power of combined auditory and visual feedback? Maybe... The fact that I was engaging in an action too (the dancing) also wove 'reality' into the fantasy? Well, it was something that I was doing 'there' that I could mirror in RL.

Certainly has given me something to think about the past couple of days. I don't think the invisibility affordance of cyberspace is going to hold its power (or the SAME power) for very much longer. And the synthetic 'visibility' will evolve our model of cyber-selves and our experiences there.

Try it....

Deb