Abstract

Virtual reality and augmented reality require a semiotic perspective that reconsiders all the complex landscape of new and traditional but evolving media: the paper offers an integrated semantic map of them. Moreover, the role played by the devices and the mediation of the body invite to separate the discursive effects of meaning from the sensorial effectiveness of the medium, distinction explored through the identification of 5 different procedures of referentiation (iconization, resolution, authentication, immersion, reincorporation). Two cases of study (soap opera effect and therapeutic use of VR) are presented to test the distinctions and their productivity.