From campfire night talk to the brain in the VAT, where is the immersive experience going?

Brief history of immersive content experience

In the ancient starry sky without light pollution, the ancestors sat around the campfire and listened to their elders tell about "hunting", "predation" and other life experiences. Immersed in these fragments, they simulated the predation scene in their minds through imagination. With the development of history, pictures, music, words, images, Internet, theme park, games, VR glasses, etc. appeared and developed People's immersive experience is also constantly strengthened, from learning experience to emotion, rich experience, decompression, entertainment, pleasure and other directions, constantly upgrading and integrating in cognitive experience  and sensory experience   objectively speaking, they are all carriers of information, but from the perspective of recipients, they are all carriers of experience. Some of them  communicate with spirit and emotion through material carrier Mutual realization).

The development of human history has been continuing to search for the best experience and form new optimal experience. While improving the way of experience, it feeds back new experience cognition and promotes each other forward; once wandering in murals, novels, films and TV, those from the sensory, emotional and cognitive levels; contemporary shopping malls, offline theme tours, entertainment performances, and all kinds of consumers in need Participating in the drama of role play and VR theme park, the upgrading of these experiences is gradually moving towards his ultimate "immersion" and then starting the next round of "immersion" cycle.

Nowadays, through multimedia, installation art, algorithmic image, projection interaction, interactive narrative, live play and other technologies and methods, the physical space or cognitive space, emotional space is formed into a false closure, and the logic and narrative guidance are constructed in it, so that the audience can interact to complete their own narrative and obtain the experience.

The core of immersive is experience, which forms "cocoon room" by sensory, emotional and cognitive methods. Under relative conditions, it means "closeness"; through sensory stimulation, target implantation, narrative guidance and other methods to enhance the experience.

Many high-quality IP is adapted into the form of immersive experience. IP combines immersive drama, interactive experience and other elements of real-life entertainment to re create, from the start of text novels, to comics, movies, games, etc. to improve IP, and then give offline exhibition, theme park, stores, cities, etc., complement each other and inject more powerful vitality, and then push back to IP itself to accompany growth Form the memory of a generation, and finally form a symbol engraved into history.

In recent years, the emergence of Internet, IMAX cinema, games, theme park and VR glasses has been continuously strengthened and promoted in new carriers and new ways. Universal Studios in foreign countries have created zombie paradise, Hollywood is also using classic IP to create immersive experience. Lion gate is also actively using its IP "hunger game" to open an immersive theme park in Dubai, and Disney promotes “Star Wars”VR multiplayer games The brief history of immersive experience is to explore and move forward in the process of restoring reality and transcending reality.

The picture comes from the Internet <Ready Player One>

 example:

   Ready Player One Numerous geeks, games, movies and other (Otaku culture) fans  Utopia, the similar of the "Three Outlooks" is the foundation of the entire "oasis". The framework and design rules make the whole "oasis" run. Looking for the mysterious "Easter egg" is desire and hope, while cooperation and solidarity are emotional ties. Experience makes us "being" to produce "story" and "memories"

 Takes the architecture and design of VR Glasses + theme park as an example.

The picture comes from the Internet<west world>

The "theme park" described in the work "west world" (HBO Series) is frightening and fascinating. VR glasses + "theme park" have a natural connection in immersive experience. Based on the existing VR technology in the audio-visual experience (VR glasses), plus the "theme park" scene, installation, actors, clothing, props, etc., to make up for other sensory and logical Missing, the content of VR glasses is only a link (mainly) in audio-visual, mainly to make up for the lack of audio-visual effect of theme park.

According to the experience content, first find the logical transition method of connection or penetration

The picture comes from the Internet<The Chronicles of Narnia>

In the movie (The Chronicles of Narnia), the magic wardrobe is used to connect the real world and the virtual world to form a transition. Think about it carefully. At present, many entertainment content that is close to the real world needs such a "Bridge" to connect the content logic. In Chinese culture, there is an article  "The Peach Garden;", which describes an Xanadu or Shambhala, perhaps there is no "he wanted to pass through the whole grove reaching a fountainhead near a mountain There was a small hole seemingly glittering in front of the mountain”, Without the dark and dangerous Small passage ahead, there will be no joy and surprise at the back ， and it is also a process of plot preparation and" hypnosis ", but it does not rule out that experience content may be produced in the same" virtual space-time "(Some people say Las Vegas is "adult Disney"...).

landscape thinking are the important factors to create the immersion experience of VR Glasses + theme park

In the early VR glasses content, some creators used to create a closed or dark space to enhance the psychological pressure on the Experiencers, while the immersive experience of VR Glasses + theme park was more related to the living environment, architecture and other real scenes. Sometimes, through the corresponding relationship between these real scenes and the virtual environment created by VR glasses, the immersive experience was promoted and played a guiding role The physical scene may also be emotional sustenance or spiritual totem

The mysterious "ghost" is not just NPC

"Ghost" plays an important guiding role in the immersive experience of VR Glasses + theme park. They may mix in and make rules or dominant rules (actors  NPC) among the Experiencers, promote the downward development, control the rhythm, act as the experienced guide, unlock some necessary conditions and deal with the Prison break brought by the "personalization" of the experiencer, They are the lubricant and stabilizer in the whole system. They will also give some "special passwords" to keep the system running according to the specific circumstances and environment as well as different Experiencers (e.g., "danger of destroying organs", or publish the rules in advance or take actions directly). Of course, they come from the system. With the experience, they increase their big data (coping skills) Sometimes they may be a group, which will bring about "Herd Behavior". In the future, they may be more like the intelligent AI of West world.

The importance of "framework thinking" in immersive experience of VR Glasses + theme park

In the past articles, I have mentioned the importance of the concept of "design" to the current VR industry (VR glasses content): under the existing technical conditions, how to let the Experiencers get a better experience requires careful and ingenious design to complete the interaction with the story plot. The immersive content of VR Glasses + theme park liberates more sensory experience and can realize more interactive design. The creator is more like the "framer" of the virtual dream in inception. By building the basic operation rules and relationships, the experiencer has more free space free to act and storytelling under the rules.

"Wall of soul" in immersive experience of VR Glasses + theme park

In the design of the plot,I have tried such a case: what the audience saw in VR glasses was a mysterious man in a cape who put you on the chair. In order to better reflect the sense of immersion, we invited actors to assist in the experience. Make the audience experience in the virtual environment and reality completely overlap, which may enable the creator to break through the idea limited by the current VR technology.

Maybe the future is the present

“landscape thinking”, "gamification thinking","storytelling thinking","functionalization thinking","emotional thinking" These are some useful ways to think about creating immersive experiences

The immersive experience of the future may become a real "brain in a VAT" like "The Matrix"

Maybe the future is the present

 Remember when i was baby, i was lying in swaddling clothes, i needed a comfortable and warm environment, listening to soft and happy music, i was attracted by the Colorful Pendant on the rocking bed, biting on the pacifier............                          

This article was written in 2018 from my work  vr glasses +experience immersive summarize experience