Spatial Presence, Psychophysiology, and Game(play) Emotions

This extended abstract argues for a new classification of the involuntary, autonomic affect that immersive virtual reality reliably provokes, such as vertigo, startle responses, and reflexive withdrawal. Working from a formal-functionalist approach, the author builds on existing game emotion theory, which distinguishes fiction emotions tied to diegetic narrative, gameplay emotions arising from mediated player action, and artefact emotions prompted by awareness of the game as a human-made object. The central claim is that VR-induced reflexes fit none of these categories cleanly, because the player responds to simulated threats as though they were real and does so before any conscious acknowledgement of diegesis, gameplay, or apparatus. The paper therefore proposes "I emotions" as a subcategory, referring jointly to immersion and the subjective self, to describe core affect and self-reflexive emotional episodes produced involuntarily by perceived-as-actual VR events.

The argument is supported through illustrative vignettes rather than empirical data. Examples include the widely replicated "pit demo," in which a convincing illusion of a sheer drop produces dizziness despite the user's rational awareness of their physical surroundings, and a scenario in which a sudden monster provokes a startle response that colours the overall memory of the experience as tense rather than enjoyable. The author notes that such core affect can persist and shape subsequent emotional appraisal, suggesting that physiological arousal can modulate higher cognitive processes. The work also draws on clinical VR applications for phobia treatment as a broader context for these responses.

The scope is conceptual and theoretical, situated within game studies, cognitive media theory, and affect research, and it is intended as a preliminary framework for future inquiry. The paper does not report experimental or survey findings, and its claims about the classification remain open to empirical testing.