In a physical sense, presence can be thought of as existing in the same physical space with another. Derrida has offered the critique that that which is present is what we tend to pay the most attention. A fuller understanding of presence might entail the engagement of awareness and attention. One’s body might be physically in the space, yet absent in attention.
Notions of presence are further complicated by perceptions of digital or symbolic presence. Think the throbbing three dots that indicates the person on the other phone is actively typing back to you. While throbbing dots are no guarantor of attention or engagement, they do specifically show that the correspondent‘s cursor is in the message box, the keyboard is visible. Other ways to understand presence digitally might be the visibility and active motion of another character’s avatar in a game space, the near-live video image of another’s image on a screen, the sound of another’s voice over the phone.
The definition of presence is: “a psychological state or subjective perception in which even though part or all an individual’s current experience is generated by and/or filtered through human-made technology, part or all of the individual’s perception fails to accurately
acknowledge the role of the technology in the experience” (see http://
lombardresearch.temple.edu/ispr/).
From this definition, presence is a psychological state, generated by human-made technology, and is a perceptual illusion that an individual believes to be nonmediated.
Example: Video call.
Presence of absence — “It’s used to describe a deep state of heaviness and separation. So we’re on a call together, and we’re in the same space virtually, but there’s still an underlying pain of being physically separated.” Yep: The Portuguese, long ago, articulated the strange reality of being both virtually connected and physically apart from those you love during the COVID-19 pandemic. Every person carries physical energy, but that energy is hard to pick up on through a 2-D interface, which might explain why you may feel like your e-meetings and social gathering seem surreal and disconnected. “The presence of absence is focused on emotional states: how we show up in spaces and how we connect with people before us,” says Dr. Richardson. Read more here