Reading about the fragility of immersion really opened my eyes to what it means to be an immersive storyteller. The author speaks about the importance of having consistency, active creation of belief and careful regulation in the boundaries between the imaginary and the real in order to maintain immersion. After reading I explored a few 360 experiences and attempted applying Murray’s arguments on them. The one that stood out to me the most was this experience:
Overall, I found this experience to be very immersive. The areas that take away from that immersion is the nature of the google cardboard. During the spacewalk, the viewer is asked to do things around the spacecraft which took me out of the immersion since I was sitting there not doing anything and watching my virtual hands move all on their own. Outside of that, the experience succeeded in being immersive through all the details they provided. First of all the voice of the guy talking to you and the voice-effect he had on allow the viewers to really take on the costume of the astronaut. Details such as the heart rate and oxygen levels also aided in the feeling that it was real, when the astronaut leaves the spacecraft and looks out at the earth you look down and see your heart rate go up which helps connect the video and your real-life reactions. Another area that aided in immersion was the intricate and heavy movement the astronaut makes, it is more believable you are in space because of how those movements help in making you believe the gravity is different. The overall experience was very consistent in all the space-astronaut details, with the placement of objects and the tasks the astronaut has to do, the different voice overs and the count downs, and the weight of the astronaut.