Immersion is a concept that is frequently used in themed entertainment. Yet, while we all have an intuitive understanding of what immersion is, most industry members regard it as a fuzzy concept. I would like to give an overview of what the scientific literature has to say about immersion, where the concept is also being regarded as ill-defined. To tackle this conceptual unclarity, I would like to revolutionize the discussion by proposing a psychological framework to better understand immersion by drawing from the theory of play. Practical implementations will be included to make the framework useful for practitioners as well.
This research concerning the experience and future of zoos was carried out from 2011-2012 and takes regional ideas concerning Zoo Emmen as well as global visions into account. The research focuses partly on Zoo Emmen, its present attractions and visitors while also comparing and contrasting visions on the future in relationship to other international zoos in the world. In this way, remarkable experiences and ideas will be identified and in the light of them, it can serve as inspiration for stakeholders of zoos at large. The main research subject is a look at the future zoos in view of: The Zoo Experience – an international experience benchmark; The Zoo of the Future – a Scenario Planning approach towards the future; The virtual zoo - zoo’s in the internet domain.
