RESEARCH

TELEPRESENCE

Telepresence and Time Spent in Game Play Experiencing Telepresence in Video Games: The Role of Telepresence Tendencies, Game Experience, Gender, and Time Spent in Play

Presence: A psychological state or subjective perception in which even though part or all of an individual's current experience is generated by and/or filtered through human-made technology, part or all of the individual's perception fails to accurately acknowledge the role of the technology in the experience
Illusion of non-mediation is fundamentally related to a sense of immersion and control over the environment
Telepresence Tendency
However, Steuer (1992) argues that beyond simple consideration of the characteristics of a mediated experience, presence is a complex phenomenon that is a product of multiple factors. These factors may include situational variables, individual differences among media users, and the nature of the interactive experience itself. Howe and Sharkey (1998) further add to this conceptualization by suggesting that individual differences in both competence (the ability to use the interactive environment) and temperament (individual personality characteristics) are important components of presence.
Past Experience
Important to consider how long term exposure to a medium may affect ones adaptability to and immersion in it.
The habitual use of a particular interactive realm should, in theory, heighten the level of presence experienced in a given interaction in that environment.

Presence and Gender
For example, report that women experience more presence related responses than men when screen sizes are changed. Botta and Bracken (2004) report that women are more accepting of idealized body images when they perceive the message as more realistic, while men are affected by extremely strong reactions to their sense of immersion in the experience.
On the other hand, at least one study found has found no gender differences in presence related variables
Length of Game Play
Prolonged exposure increases the psychological departure from the user’s physical environment
Ability to maneuver and navigate will improve with prolonged exposure, as one could learn (through immersion) the skills necessary to adapt to the environment
Differences in psychological processing may take place at different levels of video game play, and that length of exposure may be an important factor in the ways in which users interact with and respond to video games as a virtual environment.
Research Questions
Research on gender differences in adaptation to virtual environments provides little in terms of a clear delineation between men and women in terms of the level of presence they experience, though we may surmise that men should have a stronger interest in a video game environment and perhaps experience greater levels of presence through their level of psychological involvement. Further, regardless of gender, those with past experience in a specific virtual environment should also adapt more easily and experience greater presence.
RQ1: What effect will the length of time spent in game play have on the level of telepresence experienced?
RQ2: What impact will participant sex have on telepresence experienced? RQ3: What is the combined effect of telepresence tendency, sex, past game experience, and time spent in game play on the level of telepresence experienced?
Outcome
The mean scores suggest that the gap between males and females on presence may actually increase over time spent in play. It may be the case that regardless of the underlying reason, those interested and familiar with interactive experiences of this kind will adapt to the environment over a short period of time, while those who are not will not adapt and may even lose interest. The third research question then attempted to examine the separate and combined effects of gender, trait telepresence tendency, past experience with the game in question, and length of time spent in game play. The results offer some preliminary suggestions concerning the way in which adaptability to virtual environments takes place.
Source:
All acadamic research, (unknown), Experiencing Telepresence in Video Games: The Role of Telepresence Tendencies, Game Experience, Gender, and Time Spent in Play
Available at:
http://www.allacademic.com//meta/p_mla_apa_research_citation/2/5/6/2/8/pages256288/p256288-5.php
[Accessed on] 04-20-2009