This was our first introduction to the course where we had a short briefing to what immersive media and mixed reality actually is. First we spoke about what immersion means to us and how it could be achieved; as a class we constructed a mind map of our views on immersion.
It was helpful having everyone contribute to ideas at once and interesting to see the way people view immersion. This opened up new ideas on how things could be seen as immersive because I’m always thinking about it in a digital format.
“What is immersion? All about that feeling of being there. Having that impression/illusion that the environment you are in is real, that you are present in a place and time. Other words for immersion: presence, illusion.
Achieved through different mediums and around since centuries. Technology today just allows for easier and stronger forms of immersion.” “At the end of the day, immersion is the act of forgetting that the medium we are using is there. It is about forgetting the surface of the painting when looking at one. It is about being so invested within the story that you are reading or watching that you forget it is not real. It is about forgetting that you are wearing a virtual headset when you are experiencing VR”
In small groups we came up with different ideas on how we could make our own immersive experience. My group came up with the idea of this domed room where we would project images of flowers and other plants which appear as you walk through using motion tracking equipment and create this jungle themed experience. We also considered using water to create mist and a sort of light spray effects to add a further level of immersion. To complete the experience and make it as immersive as possible we’d fill the room with essential oils or other smells and have sounds of nature playing in the background.
4 Types of Immersive Media Today:
360 filmmaking
Virtual reality
Augmented reality
Mixed reality
What is reality and do these technologies actually reproduce reality? According to Google reality is “the state of things as they actually exist, as opposed to an idealistic or notional idea of them.” So in a way yes they do reproduce it because virtual reality is a real thing however the objects within in don’t. The objects themselves are also an idealistic version of the real thing so in that sense then no it doesn’t reproduce reality. In order to be fully immersed you need to end up forgetting about the medium being used and I feel like the technology we have right now is still too bulky or heavy for you to forget about it while you’re using it. In my opinion, until it becomes more convenient to use it won’t have much of a chance of becoming fully immersive.
Next we looked at the ‘Virtual Continuum’ which shows you the range of the different mixed realities.
- Real environment: consists solely of real or physical objects. The real environment represents the left end of the virtuality continuum.
- Augmented reality: the real world is augmented with digital elements.
- Augmented virtuality: the virtual world is augmented by the inclusion of real or physical objects.
- Virtual environment: consists solely of digital objects. The virtual environment represents the right end of the virtuality continuum.
How adapted are these technologies nowadays? Today I feel like they’re adapting very quickly and are becoming involved more and more into everyday life. From face filters to exhibitions to gaming they’re trying to find ways to incorporate it into everything if they can whether there’s a need or not. Almost like it’s the more technology the better. These technologies are going to achieve amazing things as we can easily alter the use to fit specific needs for example using VR to help train doctors. In the future I think the Mixed Reality community and tech will grow massively like it already is mainly because of how easy it is to access and learn from home.
Sonic Immersion Experiment: We were asked to do a mini experiment where we had to be on the phone to another member of the class, walk around the building on your own and see if you could come up with a story based on the sound you could hear through the phone. I walked around for at least 10 minutes and that still wasn’t enough time for me to hear enough details for a story. I don’t feel like this experiment was very useful and didn’t really make me feel immersed, however if it was maybe in a different setting with more going on it would have been better. All of the sounds throughout the building were too similar to distinguish what part or the building my partner was in.