[Commlist] Call for Book Chapters: Exhibiting Virtual Bodies: The social, Cultural and Phenomenological impact of VR on the creative industries

      Call for Book Chapters: Exhibiting Virtual Bodies: The social,
      Cultural and Phenomenological impact of VR on the creative industries

Edited by Michael Saker and Jordan Frith

Virtual Reality (VR) is not a new technology by any stretch of the 
imagination. Regardless of how futuristic VR might appear in popular 
culture, VR encompasses a rich and varied history that began to surface 
in the 1980s and 1990s when VPL Research produced a number of commercial 
devices (e.g. the DataGlove and Audiosphere). As exciting as these 
systems were, the technology simply could not live up to the hype 
(Evans, 2018). In reality, the level of ‘immersion’ associated with 
these developments was just not enough to fulfil the implicit promise of 
VR. Simply put, the available technology was not able to conjure an 
experience of being present in a digital world that felt in any way 
‘real’ (Shields, 2005).

In contrast to the failed hype of its first few decades, contemporary VR 
is going through a marked ‘renaissance’ (Evans, 2018). Modern systems, 
such as the Oculus Quest and more recently the Oculus Quest 2, are not 
only far more affordable than earlier offerings, but these headsets also 
represent a new era of standalone VR. Significantly, the Quest and Quest 
2 do not require powerful personal computer to run. Instead, the 
computer is effectively built into the headset itself. This untethering, 
as it is commonly referred, not only allows for more immersive 
experiences free from trailing wires, but also establishes a more 
complex and ‘coextensive’ relationship between physical and digital 
space (Saker and Frith, 2020).

Today, VR is being adopted by a range of creative industries beyond 
video games. VR, for example, has been used by music festivals like 
Coachella to extend the experience beyond its spatial confines (Locke, 
2017), just as journalists have utilised this technology to forge new 
ways for audiences to step inside the story. Likewise, VR has been 
incorporated in a number of artistic settings, such as art museums 
(Wojciechowski et al., 2004), providing novel ways for audiences to 
engage with public exhibits. As Parker and Saker (2020) argue, the 
application of VR in these environments does more than just extend the 
experience of concomitant exhibits, it also challenges the traditional 
social norms that have been established in these spaces.

With the recent growth and renaissance of VR, now is a good time to more 
broadly explore how the technology is being used across various creative 
industries. This edited collection will bring together work in diverse 
areas of VR to explore different applications and implications of the 
recent growth of the technology. Consequently, this book invites chapter 
proposals that grapple with the various social, cultural and 
phenomenological implications of VR currently being employed in a range 
of industries within the creative sector, including but not limited to VR in

• Education
• Theatre
• Live music experiences
• Experimental art
• Transmedia projects
• Cinema
• Filmmaking
• Journalism
• Social applications
• Environmental applications
• Gaming

Proposals should include the contributor’s/author’s name, a brief 
biography, and an abstract of a maximum of 500 words (not counting 
citations.) The editors will notify authors if their abstract is 
accepted, at which point the authors will eventually submit a chapter 
between 6000-8000 words in length. Please send proposals to Michael 
Saker ((michael.saker /at/ city.ac.uk) <mailto:(michael.saker /at/ city.ac.uk)>) and 
to Jordan Frith ((jfrith /at/ clemson.edu) <mailto:(jfrith /at/ clemson.edu)>).

The timeline for the project is:

  * CFP deadline: 1st February 2021
  * Communication of acceptance: 1st March 2021
  * Chapter submission: June 1st 2021
  * Editors' feedback: September 1st 2021
  * Chapter resubmission: November 1st 2021
  * Peer review feedback (assuming peer reviewers produce their review
    in a matter of days): December 1st 2021
  * Final Manuscript submission: January 15th 2022

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