GRANT
Quality of Life in the Virtual World
Professor of philosophy Søren Harnow Klausen has received almost DKK 6 million from the Independent Research Fund Denmark to study people's quality of life when they are immersed in a partly virtual world.
Many, not least young people, spend their time being online and have experiences both in virtual and physical space. But online activities and virtual reality are still considered by many, including young people themselves, to be inferior and unhealthier than life in the "real" world.
According to Søren Harnow Klausen, there are many voices warning against life in the virtual world, also among philosophers who have used virtual reality and online communities to illustrate the poverty of artificial or inauthentic lives and show how important it is to be "in touch with reality" and have "authentic experiences". But is there no authenticity or meaningful social interaction in the virtual world? The project "Wellbeing and Virtual Worlds" investigates the possibility of living a good life in partly virtual worlds.
For some, online communities may be part of the good life
The project examines the quality of life of especially young people. It consists partly of an investigation of the value and meaning of reality, authenticity, socializing, bodily activity, self-expression and accomplishment. This is the philosophical approach to quality of life is.
The project will also be empirically based. Interviews are conducted with people for whom virtual spaces play a special role; vulnerable groups such as young people who suffer from anxiety or have other mental or physical challenges. Some of these young people seem to find great value in having access to virtual spaces.
The project "Wellbeing and Virtual Worlds" investigates how people experience quality of life in parly virtual worlds. The goal is to understand life in these virtual spaces better. It can help evaluate, design, and implement new technologies for specific groups. The project will also make it easier to make informed choices about how to manage virtual spaces and online communities.
The project will contribute to our basic understanding of what it means to live a good life, to future research projects and the design of virtual environments and the development of guidelines for their use.
Meet the researcher
Professor Søren Harnow Klausen is a researcher at The Department of Design, Media and Educational Science.