Body, space, and time in virtual reality leisure experience: a phenomenological inquiry

Leisure takes its action in space and time. Virtual reality manipulates this spatiotemporal premise to imitate a leisure experience. This study examined virtual leisure from a phenomenological perspective and with a phenomenological method. A model of virtual leisure experience involving the body, space, and time was postulated. Results showed that virtual reality is distinguishable from reality by its technologically mediated consciousness. The physical body is a connector by which the real and the virtual penetrate each other. The virtual space encases a corporeal body, a habitual body, and a body in technology. Time in virtual reality is condensed into a personal time that the body intuits and an impersonal time that the body remembers. Matters regarding consciousness of VR body, space, and time and meaningful leisure in an increasingly virtual world were discussed.