Virtual Reality’s New Synesthetic Possibilities

In its current, popular manifestation, Virtual Reality (VR) represents the culmination of more than two centuries of screen practice aimed at creating greater immersion. VR’s optical illusions produce an expanded multisensory immersive experience that enhances the viewer’s interior position within new space. This article questions where embodiment and disembodiment lie in VR’s multisensory optical illusion and whether there is a difference produced by the digital environment versus the photographic, live-action environment? It takes into account our present moment in the history of VR during which the fantasy of total bodily engagement and transference into the “machine” has not yet occurred. In doing so, this article considers the way VR uses synesthetic modes rather than direct sensory stimuli to engage more of the senses.