Trust and Technologies of Sense. VR and Proprioception in Hamlet Encounters

This paper investigates the changing role of media devices in constructing fictive worlds through senses, and the changing relation we have to our senses. The demand for immersion in a virtual visual reality has its precedents, shown for example by the popularity of the kaleidoscope, the peeping box, the Guckkasten, or the panoramas. But while the immersive effect of these illusion spaces was based on visual perception, now we have multisensory interactive spaces that trigger our proprioception (body awareness and feeling of presence). The VR experience Hamlet Encounters offers a unique experience and exemplary use of distance, dislocation, and perception of one’s own senses.