Real Space, Digital Perception: Formation of Spatial Experience Beyond Materiality

Space is perceived by cognitive operations in which particular elements are assigned spatial significance. Such operations are relatively similar to digitalization processes. An element’s attributes are translated to numerical data according to measuring systems and scales, so that they can be evaluated comparatively. Similarly, elements of the given world are perceptible as sensory stimulations that are registered to the sensory organs and then translated to data, which is comparable to the data of other elements. Sensory stimulators may derive from any element that is registered to the sensory organs, even those which we call as “virtual”, “artificial” and “fake,” for example the elements that are rendered digitally in the computer. With such a premise, the paper examines how such elements may also contribute in the formation of spatial perception. Consequently, the meaning as well as our common interaction with space is contested, along with the limits of reality itself