Sociological analysis of the spread of virtual mobility as a form of spatial movement virtualization (based on John Urry's sociology of mobility)

Abstract

The paper presents a study of virtual mobility as a way to overcome the resistance of physical space by creating a virtual image of it, which allows a person to be in a different place from where he is physically, through virtual reality. Based on the works of the British sociologist John Urry, the author investigated virtual mobility from the point of view of the sociology of space. The analysis of the sociology of mobility of Urry allowed us to identify three chronological stages of the formation of mobility associated with the invention and introduction of new techniques and technologies. The first stage (XIX century) is associated with the mechanization of movement. The second stage (XX century) includes mass production of internal combustion engines, their improvement and the emergence of new modes of transport. The third stage (the turn of the XX–XXI centuries) characterizes the revolutionary development of communication due to a sharp increase in the mobility of information, which made possible the active development of virtual mobility. Virtual mobility makes events that are remote in physical space close in virtual space and available for virtual participation in them. The author has studied the following information technology capabilities: online map services containing panoramic images; satellite images and photos of localities; video recordings of trips; travel films; virtual excursions; educational virtual mobility; video trips to extreme places and virtual travel in Outer Space.
Urry's sociology of mobility has become the starting point for the theorizing that forms the sociology of virtual mobility. All other concepts, whether it is the sociology of space or the theory of virtuality, become additional resources for theorizing.