Defining presence

Matthew Lombard

Matthew Jones

pp. 13-34

in: Matthew Lombard, Frank Biocca, Jonathan Freeman, Wijnand IJsselsteijn, Rachel J. Schaevitz (eds), Immersed in media, Berlin, Springer, 2015

Abstract

The concept of presence has become the focus of an increasing amount of attention in both academic and public forums, but scholars have developed divergent and overlapping definitions of the concept, which threatens to inhibit our progress in understanding presence phenomena. In this chapter we present a framework for untangling the conceptualizations and promote a standardized terminology for discussing and defining presence. A brief consideration of the benefits and dangers of the endeavor is followed by an overview of the origins and evolution of presence terminology, presentation of the definitional framework, and recommendations for its use.