The term ‘immersion’ is used frequently by professional video game developers (in both the entertainment and serious/applied industries), academics, journalists, and players. However, this word can refer to a range of different modes of engagement for players and standardisation would improve discussion of the topic. This paper suggests and explains four categories: 1. 'Systems immersion' can be used to describe when players are deeply engaged with the mechanics, challenges, and rules of a game, and is similar to a state of ‘flow’. 2. 'Spatial immersion' is the sense of a player being present in, or transported to, the virtual world, and is linked to the concept of embodiment. 3. 'Empathic/social immersion' describes the connection that a player may develop towards the characters (AI or human) and the social context of a game.4. 'Narrative/sequential immersion' can be used to describe a player’s compulsion to see how a sequence of events continues, typically in a narrative, but this is related to any progression, such as exploring new spaces or evolving gameplay mechanics.
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Immersieve technologieën beïnvloeden de manier waarop we muziek ervaren. Immersieve ervaringen dompelen luisteraars volledig onder in muziek, waardoor ze niet alleen horen, maar de muziek ook beleven. Het doel van het project 'De toekomst van immersieve ervaringen in muziek' is om de toekomstige mogelijkheden van immersieve ervaringen in de muziekindustrie te verkennen en te begrijpen. Dit helpt ons om de toekomst van muziekbeleving te duurzaam te verbeteren. We onderzochten hoe nieuwe technologieën de luisterervaring kunnen transformeren, zoals spatial audio, Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR) en Mixed Reality (MR). We hebben deze nieuwe creatieve mogelijkheden en technologische vooruitgang verkend. De hieruit voortgekomen toekomstscenarios bieden een kader om de evolutie van traditionele geluidsdragers naar digitale en immersieve media te doorgronden. Met dit project willen we inspireren en nieuwe manieren van denken stimuleren, zodat de huidige muziekervaringen kunnen worden verrijkt met innovatieve, meeslepende concepten.
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The concept of immersion has been widely used for the design and evaluation of user experiences. Augmented, virtual and mixed-reality environments have further sparked the discussion of immersive user experiences and underlying requirements. However, a clear definition and agreement on design criteria of immersive experiences remains debated, creating challenges to advancing our understanding of immersive experiences and how these can be designed. Based on a multidisciplinary Delphi approach, this study provides a uniform definition of immersive experiences and identifies key criteria for the design and staging thereof. Thematic analysis revealed five key themes – transition into/out of the environment, in-experience user control, environment design, user context relatedness, and user openness and motivation, that emphasise the coherency in the user-environment interaction in the immersive experience. The study proposes an immersive experience framework as a guideline for industry practitioners, outlining key design criteria for four distinct facilitators of immersive experiences–systems, spatial, empathic/social, and narrative/sequential immersion. Further research is proposed using the immersive experience framework to investigate the hierarchy of user senses to optimise experiences that blend physical and digital environments and to study triggered, desired and undesired effects on user attitude and behaviour.
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The PhD research by Joris Weijdom studies the impact of collective embodied design techniques in collaborative mixed-reality environments (CMRE) in art- and engineering design practice and education. He aims to stimulate invention and innovation from an early stage of the collective design process.Joris combines theory and practice from the performing arts, human-computer interaction, and engineering to develop CMRE configurations, strategies for its creative implementation, and an embodied immersive learning pedagogy for students and professionals.This lecture was given at the Transmedia Arts seminar of the Mahindra Humanities Center of Harvard University. In this lecture, Joris Weijdom discusses critical concepts, such as embodiment, presence, and immersion, that concern mixed-reality design in the performing arts. He introduces examples from his practice and interdisciplinary projects of other artists.About the researchMultiple research areas now support the idea that embodiment is an underpinning of cognition, suggesting new discovery and learning approaches through full-body engagement with the virtual environment. Furthermore, improvisation and immediate reflection on the experience itself, common creative strategies in artist training and practice, are central when inventing something new. In this research, a new embodied design method, entitled Performative prototyping, has been developed to enable interdisciplinary collective design processes in CMRE’s and offers a vocabulary of multiple perspectives to reflect on its outcomes.Studies also find that engineering education values creativity in design processes, but often disregards the potential of full-body improvisation in generating and refining ideas. Conversely, artists lack the technical know-how to utilize mixed-reality technologies in their design process. This know-how from multiple disciplines is thus combined and explored in this research, connecting concepts and discourse from human-computer interaction and media- and performance studies.This research is a collaboration of the University of Twente, Utrecht University, and HKU University of the Arts Utrecht. This research is partly financed by the Dutch Research Council (NWO).Mixed-reality experiences merge real and virtual environments in which physical and digital spaces, objects, and actors co-exist and interact in real-time. Collaborative Mix-Reality Environments, or CMRE's, enable creative design- and learning processes through full-body interaction with spatial manifestations of mediated ideas and concepts, as live-puppeteered or automated real-time computer-generated content. It employs large-scale projection mapping techniques, motion-capture, augmented- and virtual reality technologies, and networked real-time 3D environments in various inter-connected configurations.This keynote was given at the IETM Plenary meeting in Amsterdam for more than 500 theatre and performing arts professionals. It addresses the following questions in a roller coaster ride of thought-provoking ideas and examples from the world of technology, media, and theatre:What do current developments like Mixed Reality, Transmedia, and The Internet of Things mean for telling stories and creating theatrical experiences? How do we design performances on multiple "stages" and relate to our audiences when they become co-creators?Contactjoris.weijdom@hku.nl / LinkedIn profileThis research is part of the professorship Performative Processes
