An Examination of a Theory of Embodied Social Presence in Virtual Worlds*

2011/04/26 by Brian E. Mennecke, Janea Triplett, Lesya Hassall +2 · 1 citation
Business, Management and Accounting · Computer Science · Engineering · Psychology · #Activity theory #Artificial intelligence #Cognitive science #Computer science #Context (archaeology) #Customer Service Quality and Loyalty #Embodied cognition #Engineering #Human–computer interaction #Knowledge management #Metaverse #Perception #Process (computing) #Psychology #Social psychology #Social relation #Sociology #Task (project management) #Team Dynamics and Performance #Virtual Reality Applications and Impacts #Virtual reality

paper · doi:10.1111/j.1540-5915.2011.00317.x

openalex publication_date 2011/04/26 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/15

Abstract

In this article, we discuss and empirically examine the importance of embodiment, context, and spatial proximity as they pertain to collaborative interaction and task completion in virtual environments. Specifically, we introduce the embodied social presence (ESP) theory as a framework to account for a higher level of perceptual engagement that users experience as they engage in activity-based social interaction in virtual environments. The ESP theory builds on the analysis of reflection data from Second Life users to explain the process by which perceptions of ESP are realized. We proceed to describe implications of ESP for collaboration and other organizational functions.

Citations

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Cited by

• Social presence theory [wikipedia]

Related

• I am here with you: an examination of factors relating to social presence in social VR
• The Experience of Presence: Factor Analytic Insights
• Collective Embodiment, or the Social Nature of the Sense of Embodiment in Social VR
• A Framework for Immersive Virtual Environments (FIVE): Speculations on the Role of Presence in Virtual Environments
• Embodied social interaction constitutes social cognition in pairs of humans: A minimalist virtual reality experiment