POV in XR

This chapter will introduce and explain the applications of a taxonomy for discussing point of view (POV) in XR. The simple designations of first, second, and third person that are used to categorize books, movies, and video games don't cover all the options and combinations available in immersive media. Accordingly, XR requires a new taxonomy that will allow for clear communication about content and experiences. This chapter will do three things: (1) present the four main POV tiers: narrative, visual, effectual, and experiential; (2) address less common tiers and how they might be incorporated and acknowledged in future XR experiences; and (3) show the taxonomy in action by using it to describe contemporary XR content.

Immersive Storytelling

This chapter compares and contrasts the development of traditional cinema and fulldome cinema, describing the way their origins shaped not only their current success and potential as unique cinematic mediums, but also how their cinematic languages developed. There is a vastly different approach to storytelling that filmmakers must understand when creating shows for immersive digital dome theaters versus the approach they would take to tell stories in a traditional film. This chapter identifies key differences between cinema and fulldome and provides a primer for immersive storytelling on the dome from understanding the technology to understanding how most effectively to use the strengths of fulldome while avoiding its weaknesses. Ultimately, this discussion is designed to help creative artists become more effective immersive filmmakers for the fulldome canvas.

The Intersections of Creativity, Technology, and the Mind

This chapter examines the relationships between technology, the human mind, and creativity. The chapter cannot possibly cover the whole spectrum of the aforementioned; nonetheless, it covers highlights that especially apply to new immersive technologies. The nature of creativity, creativity studies, the tools, languages, and technology used to promote creativity are discussed. The part that the mind and the senses—particularly vision—play in immersive media technology, as well as robotics, artificial intelligence (AI), computer vision, and motion capture are also discussed. The immersive transmedia project Robot Prayers is offered as a case study of the application of creativity and technology working hand in hand.

Virtual Futures

In this chapter, the author explores how immersive media experiences might lend themselves to examinations of pathways to a preferred future. After surveying a number of immersive media projects—some that have dealt with environmental and social issues and some on broader topics—the author identifies a number of affordances of the form. These affordances are crafted into a ‘virtual futures manifesto', or a set of guidelines for the commissioning and creation of such works. The manifesto points include 1) stage an encounter; 2) be wild: bewilderment is powerful; 3) move from being to doing; 4) embody the future; and 5) care: the participants matter. It is hoped that immersive media experiences that consider these points may assist audiences in imagining pathways to preferred futures.

Location-Based Entertainment

This chapter goes on a journey through time, highlighting key milestones, present-day realities, and future possibilities in the unbounded world of location-based entertainment (LBE). It explores the constant human desire for connection and play and looks at the role immersive entertainment has played in getting us out of the house, thus encouraging social interaction and mental stimulation in the most unconventional of ways. The chapter explores the impact that this growing industry will have on the (traditional) entertainment, retail, hospitality, art and education spheres, and touches on the history and background of venues and players (old and new), demonstrating diversity, creativity, and inimitability in execution. By taking a look at the power of immersive storytelling, the authors touch on the future of location-based entertainment and its ability to inspire ideas, conversation, and community.

Smell Is All Around Us

While much of today's immersive media claims to be “multi-sensory,” in actuality most such works have only audio and visual sensory cues. Scent, a powerful human modality that helps us to understand and derive meaning from the world, is often overlooked. However, scent in the service of art has a long and rich history, especially looking back to its ancient uses in establishing power, mystery, or memorability within religious or political domains. Early attempts at incorporating scent into artistic performances were not well received, perhaps due to inadequate technology of the time. Today a renaissance of olfactory art points to broader acceptance and appreciation of scent in artistic productions. Many artists are taking on the mantle of scent today, and the authors look forward to its increasing application in many forms of immersive media.

Towards a Fulldome Manifesto

The time for a Fulldome Manifesto has come because fulldome as an immersive, surround, communal medium is happening now. It comes as a vast vessel and in new form, with deep changes in the production and perception of 360-degree media. Within seconds, and without changing seat or body, one can switch from visiting a church, mosque, synagogue, or temple to being lured onto The Red Light District on a custom, generative, real-time responsive, science-fiction planet. Fulldome's mere scale can provoke profound wonder and interconnectedness and encapsulate the intersection of all media disciplines, unlike any other multimedia vessels humans have built so far. Like the membrane of a cell, fulldome houses the cross mingling of desires, projections, and technological abilities. In Tour d'Horizon For The Immersive Inclined, authors venture Towards a Fulldome Manifesto—exploring fulldome as a medium, venue, and genre while pointing to its promise for the advancement of immersive media.

Immersive Experience

This chapter examines the evolution of trends in the arts, storytelling, and immersive media, along with the emerging awareness, expansion, and deliberate application of social impact entertainment (SIE). The author discusses how the ideas and concepts of transmedia, convergence, and storyworld-building have now expanded beyond academic theory into more organic commercial and artistic applications. The focus is on how this approach relates to extending intellectual properties and stories into immersive media platforms and beyond. Additionally, the author presents several case studies and examples of emerging arts and media formats to support what we might expect to experience in the near future.

Virtual Reality as a Tool for Mental Health and Conscious Living and Death

In this chapter, the authors look at the possibilities of impact of VR in the mental health and wellness area through the lens of contemplative practices and immersive experiences. The area of existential anxieties is often stigmatized or difficult to address directly. Death is the most transformative journey possible but may not be viewed this way. Immersive experiences designed to encourage and allow for non-dual experiences can support this transition. They are difficult to design since non-dual experiences by their very nature are both deeply personal and yet totally impersonal at the same time. Yet, the authors examine how existential anxieties are the perfect framework for a non-dual experience. The wellness app StarflightVR serves as an explorative tool. We mention a past study in this area, which revealed that it is possible to mitigate depression by addressing anxiety on a daily basis through this immersive contemplative VR experience. The authors build on this study with existential fear mitigation examined through an online workshop experience and StarflightVR.

Immersive Media, Scientific Visualization, and Global Umwelt

This chapter deals with the global implications of immersive media: First, it considers how the concept of the umwelt can be used to address the extension of sensory motor capabilities of the human body. Next, it discusses what the implications are when the concept of the human umwelt is applied to scientific visualization in astronomy, which scales space and time to present data. Then, these scientific visualizations are discussed in the context of planetarium domes and what it means to collectively experience an immersive environment based on large scale data. As a case study, the final section articulates what this entails for the understanding of the effects of collective human interactions with our planetary environment at this stage of climate change.