Category: Spring 2021

I really liked the part about the fourth wall, as mentioned by Murray. It’s the “enchanted object that carries you into the immersive world- and then out again”. There’s a threshold between illusion and reality and VR helps us pass through that threshold, bringing the illusion to us, or us into the illusion. This wall is simutaneously a symbol of the boundary between reality and illusion as well as a part of the illusory world.

When I first tried Cardboard, I tried watching the Lego Batman experience. I found it hilarious, since I’ve seen the Lego Batman movie already, but even without that, I think the VR experience was great. I found it interesting that I was told I was in a VR experience to begin with, during the experience. It wasn’t pretending to be a real experience at all. I also liked the way motion was simulated, and you could see the city around you as you moved. Also, characters directly interact with you which puts you in the middle of the action and makes the experience more immersive.

What drew me the most to this chapter on ‘Immersion’, is the active and continuous creation of belief, and how the participant must always participate in the “willing suspension of disbelief”. On. deeper level users are not only suspending disbelief, but they are constantly creating it and reinforcing the reality of the entire experience. We tend to consume different forms of media in a very similar way, and digital environments are no different; as we often apply our own experiences to the world we are digitally inhabiting.

We bring our own cognitive, cultural, and psychological templates to every story as we assess the characters and anticipate the way the story is likely to go.

Janet Murray

Another method used in fictional worlds that is meant to actively create belief, is the construction of worlds and narratives with vivid details and intricacies. This is meant to help participants in said worlds to further immerse themselves in the narrative, due to the fact that there are many elements to keep track of. This is also a system of participation and reward; as the user’s attention to detail is rewarded with a consistency of imagination and world building. It is quite interesting to observe how these participatory environments immerse their users and help them bring life to imaginary narratives and objects.