[ecrea] CFP: Why VR? Why Now?: A critical discussion of Virtual Reality experiments and experiences

*CALL FOR PAPERS*
Why VR? Why Now?: A critical discussion of Virtual Reality experiments 
and experiences*
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*Journal of Transformative Technologies*
http://www.ttrujournal.com.au/call-for-papers/
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*Abstracts due: *
February 10th, 2017

*Issue Editors: *
Simon Young, (simon /at/ lithodomosvr.com) <mailto:(simon /at/ lithodomosvr.com)>
Thao Phan, (thao.phan /at/ unimelb.edu.au) <mailto:(thao.phan /at/ unimelb.edu.au)>
Andrew Lynch, (andrew.lynch1 /at/ unimelb.edu.au) 
<mailto:(andrew.lynch1 /at/ unimelb.edu.au)>

The ‘virtual insanity’ predicted by Jamiroquai’s Jay Kay in 1997, has 
certainly arrived, bringing with it an unprecedented range of VR 
technologies and software to experience for the contemporary media 
consumer. While it remains to be seen which of the multitude of 
competing technologies (Sony’s PlayStation VR, HTC’s Vive, Samsung’s 
Gear VR or even the humble Google Cardboard) will reign supreme in the 
consumer market, there has never been a more pressing time for scholarly 
analysis of how this state of ‘virtual insanity’ came to be, and how we 
might better comprehend its significance for the academic areas of 
media, screen and cultural studies.

For its inaugural issue, The Journal of Transformative Technologies 
(JoTT) invites authors whose research involves or intersects with 
critical discussions of VR. Is this generation of VR experiences truly 
the one which will “go mainstream”, and if so, why? Does VR have the 
potential to supersede other less interactive media formats like film 
and television with more immersive engagement possibilities, or will it 
end up on the ever growing pile of redundant and forgotten “next big 
things”? How does VR’s claims to universal appeal clash with issues of 
accessibility and imagined audiences? Do contemporary VR experiences 
blur boundaries of genre in media entertainment, or are they still 
tethered to genres laid down by older media forms? What is the 
significance of aesthetics (both hardware and software) in embodied 
practices of VR? How have fictional representations of Virtual Realities 
and their input devices shaped expectations, or influenced the 
production, of the current generation of VR technologies?

Potential topics may include, but are not limited to:

  * VR experimentation in art
  * VR experiences and genre theory
  * VR accessibility and design
  * Challenging expectations of VR experiences
  * The increasing omnipresence of mediated realities
  * VR and everyday life
  * Predictive imaginings of VR across other media forms
  * VR technologies and their futurist aesthetics
  * Haptic experiences of the imaginary through VR
  * Gamifying VR
  * VR technologies and media archaeology
  * VR and the posthuman/cyborg
  * Virtual experiences and critical studies of gender and sexuality


In addition, we also welcome submissions that deal more broadly with 
issues relating to the areas of mediated realities and/or VR technology 
in theoretical or critical terms. We are open to nontraditional 
submissions including creative and nonlinear works.

Please send all enquiries and submissions to (editor /at/ ttrujournal.com.au) 
<mailto:(editor /at/ ttrujournal.com.au)>. Abstracts must be accompanied by a 
brief curriculum vitae.

All eligible submissions will be sent for double-blind peer-review. JoTT 
does not charge authors for publication.

Abstracts to be submitted by *February 10th 2017* with full submissions 
due by *May 10th 2017.*
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http://www.ttrujournal.com.au/
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