"In a much-needed critical examination of immersion, a key concept of media theory, this remarkable volume examines its manifestation in a variety of media—VR technology, computer games, film, participatory theater, and narrative fiction—discusses it from a phenomenological point of view, interviews content creators pursuing the experience, and interrogates the future of VR as an artistic and ludic medium." <br /> -- Marie-Laure Ryan, Independent literary scholar and critic <br /><br /> "Running the gamut from virtual reality to film and game studies, theater to philosophy, this collection demonstrates the myriad ways the idea of immersion continues to inspire discussion and debate. Anyone interested in recent work on the concept, need look no further."<br /> -- Paul Roquet, Massachusetts Institute of Technology <br /><br /> “This unique collection explores the concept of immersion from a variety of historical and critical perspectives. A key contribution to media studies, it is also a must-read for all those who wish to appreciate the cultural significance of VR and other new technologies of immersion.” <br /> -- Jay David Bolter, Georgia Institute of Technology
Acknowledgements
Introduction: Carl Therrien, Philippe Bédard, and Alanna Thain
Section 1: Altered States
1. Immersive Situativity: Perspectives on Being In/Out of Sync, Tom Poljan.ek and Laura Katharina Mücke
2. Douglas Trumbull and the Technological Aesthetic of Brainstorm: Charles R. Acland
3. Dual Cognitive Approach, Eugene Kukshinov
4. Emotional and Immersive Experiences in Films and Games: Looking into the Perceptual Model and Striving for a Motivational Theory, Maxime Deslongchamps-Gagnon
5. Interaction and Immersion Logics in Encounters: Coalescence of Bodies in a Liquid Space, Claire Chatelet and Mathieu Pradat
6. Facing Oneself: Out-of-Body Experience, Immersion, and the Remediation of Cinema through Virtual Reality, Pietro Conte
7. The Time it Takes to Tend Virtual Succulents: ImmersingOneself in a Playthrough of Viridi, Gabriel Tremblay-Gaudette
Section 2: Finding New Frames
8. The Many Births of Virtual Reality, Philippe Bédard
9. Seeing by Automobility: Protoautomobility, Immersion, the Traveller-Spectator, and the Phantom Ride, 1897–1912, Michael J. T. Stock
10. From Participation to Immersion: Promotional Tactics around Tricked and Dynamic Seats in the Film Theatre, Aude Weber-Houde
11. Surface and Depth: The Picture Plane as a Site of Immersivity in the Digital Age, C. E. Harris
12. “Let’s Cross This Portal Together”: Immersion Mechanisms in VR Performances and Their Current Limitations, Ágnes Karolina Bakk
13. Immersive Materiality and Television Production in The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance (2019), Dan Leberg and Sabrina Sauer
14. “More Mbappé Than Me?”: Soccer Video Games, Athletic Bodies, and the Performative Displacement, Daniele Iannucci
Section 3: The Edge of Sense(s)
15. Walter Benjamin on the Threshold of Immersion, Sonny Walbrou
16. Correlations of Immersion and Authenticity in the Experience of Fencing in Hellish Quart and For Honor, Micha. Mochocki and Ignacy Nowicki
17. New Heritage Ecologies: Embracing Entanglement and Complexity in Virtual Heritage Immersion, Elina Lex
18. The Contribution of Narrative Puzzles to Player Challenge-Based Immersion: A Case Study of Abzû, Gabrielle Trépanier-Jobin and Mathilde Savoie
19. The Opposite of Elsewhere: Home Video as Virtual Reality, Madison Brown
20. Video Game Immersion as Bodily Atmospheric Attunement, Andrea Andiloro
Section 4: Interviews
21. Beyond Frontiers: An Interview with Félix Lajeunesse (Co-founder and Chief Creative Off icer, Felix & Paul Studios) Edited by Philippe Bédard
22. Producing Intravene: An Experiment in Immersive Audio, Brenda Longfellow
23. A Much-Needed Conversation with Women Working in VR, Edited and moderated by Caroline Klimek
24. Espace & Présence: An Interview with Guillaume Perreault-Roy, Edited by Philippe Bédard
25. The Ultimate Potential of Immersive Media: An Interview with Kent Bye (Host of the Voices of VR Podcast), Edited by Philippe Bédard
26. An interview with Skawennati, Edited by Carl Therrien
Indices