In “The Humane Representation of Thought,” Bret Victor discusses different modes of understanding mediums, specifically the use of different sensory channels and enactive, iconic, and symbolic methods. At the moment, virtual reality is most typically represented using different gaming systems, such as the Vive, which allow virtual reality to be relatively dynamic. The user navigates and understands the game through action, image, and language-based representations. These games also appeal to various sensory channels; they are visual because of the graphics, they are aural because of sound effects, they are tactile because of the use of controllers, and they are spatial because of the 360 degree aspect, complete with moveable depth.
What is perhaps lacking in this current representation, however, is how the user can understand the virtual reality medium kinesthetically. There are not very many games out there, to my knowledge, that involve movement of the user’s body in a way that matches actual reality effectively. The bow-and-arrow activity in the Unity example world, for instance, does not accurately match how you would shoot an arrow in real life. It takes into account aim, a small pull-back motion, and the push of a button in order to shoot the arrow. When shooting an actual bow, there are several other aspects that go into how the archer’s arrow will shoot. The position of the archer’s elbow, for example, is very important. There is also tension in the bow’s strings that you are not able to feel in your fingers and arms with Vive controllers.
A well-suited representation for virtual reality, therefore, would be one that better takes into account the kinesthetic mode of understanding without compromising other modes of understanding the medium. Sensors all around the body to better map body movements, for example, could be a possibility.