디지털 인문학과 가상현실

Abstract

This paper discusses the characteristics of Digital Humanities and the ways of improving our participation in the field of Digital Humanities. I am a digital humanities scholar as well as a literary researcher: I work on the computer most of time while I research on Korean literature. Even if most humanities scholars rely on the computer devices and their system when they conduct a research project or write academic papers, they do not realize that their research activities fall into the category of Digital Humanities. Digital humanities is not about using digital tools as a means to reconstruct our knowledge, but it is an effort to build new academic communities that transcend boundaries between different academic fields through the trans-disciplinary perspective. Therefore, Digital Humanities can be defined as a concept that refers to a series of academic activities, such as research activities in Humanities and its education, in the new way by applying the computer (information) technology to the problems of the humanities field, and the most important thing in this process is the consilience and collaboration of digital and humanities. The digital environment has the advantage of enhancing the sense of immersion and the vicarious experience of the user, but it has the disadvantage that there is a small room for the reader's imagination. The sense of immersion and joy the users experience in the digital environment are not a direct experience of the reality but a vicarious experience (agency) in the virtual reality. It is different from the term substitute behavior because the user is participating in the internet game, and it is also different from the direct experience because the game is built in the virtual space. The problem that digital game users who are deeply involved in the game that offers the sense of full immersion and vicarious experience (agency) show the anti-social behaviors in the real world should be addressed. Humanities scholars who are doing the creative and productive works must be the main body of consilience and collaboration of Digital Humanities. Human imagination is more valuable than the sensation we experience when we look at the shocking images produced by ever-evolving computer technology. It is hard to disagree that humanities are the crucial academic field that can enhance human imagination.