Why Virtual Mirrors Are Popular in VRChat: A Philosophical Explanation

In this new video from Strasz (previously featured here), the VRChat sociologist deep dives into the obsession with staring at one's avatar in virtual mirrors. (It's such a popular VRChat pastime, we devoted two posts and an original comic to it.) Heavily citing French postmodernist theory ("Foucault* would have a field day in VRChat"),  Strasz argues that VRChat users aren't simply being narcissistic:

"I think ultimately a lot of behaviors in VR (like standing in front of a mirror) are misunderstood," as he puts it to me. "People tend to see them in a negative light, or see them as anti-social, when in reality they serve a powerful purpose. The mirror in VR isn't just a thing that lets you see yourself -- it's one that lets you calibrate your body, and get a sense of how you fit into the virtual space."

Given his Strasz's previous report, suggesting that a majority of VRChat users would literally like to be their avatar in real life, that sounds right.

And once a virtual mirror anchors the individual VRChat user, Strasz adds, it then becomes a social hub:

"I think the mirror serves as a space to meet people -- it's understood as a place where people always are, where you can basically walk up and start talking and generally expect a response. Sometimes it won't be positive, but in my experiences, most of the time it's at least friendly."

Much more conversation (along with copious sources) on his YouTube page.

* Speaking of which, and speaking from personal experience, when a virtual world community becomes active and rich enough that people in it start citing Foucault and such, it's probably long past time to take it seriously.

Comments

[Amanda Blain]

Agree!! The mirror is often misunderstood in vrchat... In my beginners to VRChat lengthy post I compare it to sitting along a bar. Everyone understands that behavior and bar sitting is a perfectly social activity. So is VRchat mirror. ;)

https://www.worldofgeekstuff.com/what-is-vrchat-8-getting-started-in-vrchat-tips/

[Adeon Writer.]

> "While vision is key, where that vision emanates from is even more important. We need to believe that it comes from our own eyes, and that the body parts we see are in a place that makes sense."

When someone decides to check out VRChat for the first time, they usually won't have VR. One of the first questions they ask is, "How do I enter third person view?". Of course, the second question they ask is "Ok... so why doesn't this game have a third person view?"

And to VRChat's credit, they know exactly what they're doing. Forcing first person is absolutely critical to everything that's special about VRChat. Mirrors are the one way, the natural way, to get everything you lose by not looking at yourself in third person - without everything that you lose from having third person.

The devs understand that even the personal option for third person would take away that mutual understanding of shared space and connection.

[Joey1058]

Adeon is pretty spot on. I try hard to be 1st person in SL, for the immersion. I go 3rd person to get a sense of self. Being in front of a mirror achieves the same effect without losing the sense of immersion. Brilliant!

[Summer Haas]

1st person in SL is near unplayable because everything is designed for the bizarre 3rd person field of view. Hit Ctrl+0 four or five times to get a more realistic perspective and pan around, you'll start to notice just how gigantic everything is (ctrl+9 resets).

Even with a default 3rd person view though, I suspect if they added a reflection switch to prims it would be hugely popular.

[Adeon Writer.]

> I suspect if they added a reflection switch to prims it would be hugely popular.

I continue to get emails about this video weekly, for years. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gBmAR3zzovY

Yes, mirrors were wanted. Badly. It’s a shame VRChat jumped ahead in that department. (Same algorithm!)