Exploring Virtual Reality through Ihde's Instrumental Realism
arXiv Preprint Archive January 23, 2024 He Zhang, John M. Carroll
Drawing on Don Ihde's theory of instrumental realism, this paper examines virtual reality (VR) as a tool for phenomenological inquiry. It reviews how VR technology has prompted a technological revolution and is used to study subjective experience, perception, embodiment, empathy, perspective-taking, and altered states of consciousness. The paper argues that VR expands human perception and cognition, serving as an instrumental technology that opens new avenues for scientific investigation and transforms understanding of the world. By reflecting on the work of Husserl and Ihde, it revisits VR's potential to reshape how we experience and know reality.