Presence is the "perceptual illusion of non-mediation" that occures "when a person fails to percieve or acknowledge the existence of a medium in his/her communication environment and responds as he/she would if the medium were not there" (Lombard & Ditton, 1997).

Presence is "the degree to which participants subjectively feel that they are somewhere other than their actual physical location because of the effects of a..." medium of some type (Shim & Kim, 2003).

Virtual reality systems seek to capitalize on this effect.

"Virtual reality (VR) is defined as a communication medium designed to replicate, on some level, the real world by mimicking the characteristics of various types and amounts of sensory stimui in real time" (Lerch, Murneiks, & Reineke, 2003).

Things to be done (phases listed by priority)

Phase 1

Creation of in-environment avatars for use as a basis for comparison for participants (one male, one female). completed

Allow for links to be made to web surveys. completed

Phase 2

Add ambiance (Sounds). completed

Add improvements to make the GUI more intuitive. completed

Phase 3

Improve the basic visual layout of the world.

fix fan.

Improve the outside environment. completed