There has actually been a pervasive presence of VR-ness in history.
For instance, the concept of the Pure Land (Gokuraku Jōdo) embodies an attempt to construct and enter an alternate world—a practice deeply connected to a VR-like worldview. Similarly, the tea room was originally conceived as an “urban mountain retreat” (shichū no sankyo), a separate world within the city.

I have sought to understand the various manifestations and mechanisms of such VR-ness through the triadic relationship of “taizō (waiting realities), sōzō (imagination), and jitsuzō (common realities).”Here, taizō refers to the VR-like image, jitsuzō to the shared world of everyday life, and sōzō to the individual’s inner image. The relationships between the VR-ness (taizō) and the other two were classified into five types for analytical purposes.

In the past, VR-ness likely belonged to a domain closer to personal belief or subjective feeling. However, with the advancement of media and technology, taizō has become something that anyone, anywhere can reproduce and share. As a result, representations of the existing world and those of VR-ness have begun to appear as “discrepancies” between worlds—phenomena that can even lead to cognitive disconnection within urban environments.

2023 : Shinkenchiku
2023 : MOT Annual Extra, Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo
2024 : Shinkenchiku