Immersion
(How we perceive the world)
Originally posted in a discussion at the Second Life forums.When we create something for a virtual world, we want the viewers to loose themselves in it, don't we? We want immersion, we want people to believe this is real! But a virtual reality is not and will never be a detailed copy of Real Life. Nor should it be. In that sense it will never be real and that means people will need to "suspend their disbelief", that is accept that a couple of core factors are different from how they usually are.
There are several well known and proven techniques artists of all kinds use to facilitate suspension of disbelief and immersion. You can play around with timing and with deliberate use of distractions, you can prepare and build anticipation, etc., etc.
To make the most out of these techniques, we need to understand a little bit about how our brains work and how we perceive things. Here are a few factors to consider:
1. We don't think what we think we think
There's so much going on in our brains that we are not consciously aware of. Much of it is never recorded in our memory so it's gone forever in the blink of an eye.2. We don't see what we think we see
I'm sure we've all been told that what we see is only ten percent what our eyes actually register, the rest is how the brain interprets the data. (Imagine a large list of optical illusion examples here.)3. Our senses interact
(I could have added long explanation with lots of examples here but I think most people can come up with that themselves.)4. There are limits to how much we notice
Most of what goes on around us is unnoticed. The brain simply doesn't have the capacity to handle it all so it focuses on what seems important at the moment and ignores the rest.5. Memory works by association.
New memories are never stored independently, they are "hooked onto" exisitng memories. The more such "hooks" the brain can find for the new data, the easier it is to remember. This is very different from computer memory where every piece of information is stored separately in an orderly fashion. Two of the many consequences are:- 5b Almost everything we remember is wrong When an old memory is used as a "hook" for a new one, it is inevitably altered a little bit.
- 5c First impressions are important Because that will always be one of the strongest "hooks" for subsequent related experiences.
6. Perception is holistic
It's far more about the whole picture than individual details.7. Our brain is always looking for patterns
If there are no patterns, it makes some up.8. Things that seem out of place will always draw a lot of attention
I suppose that's just another way to put the previous two points but it's important when we're talking about immersion factors. Put an organutan in a Borneo jungle scene an he fits perfectly in. Seat him in the parliament and he stands out like the proverbial sore thumb (or maybe not but you get the point). My definition of an eyesore, a common SL immersion breaker, is not something that is ugly - an eyesore the way I see it can be really beautiful and amazing. But it breaks the continuity of the scene and draws attention away from what is more important to the whole.9. The brain is not alone
It's our cpu, yes, but it doesn't do all the work, it is thoroughly integrated with our entire nervous system and even our entire body.10. Vertical is more noticeable than horizontal
Imagine you are hiding behind a rock and want to take a peek to see what's going on. Stick you head up above the rock and everybody will notice you, sneak a look around the edge of it, and you'll probably get away with it.I'm not sure if this has anything to do with how our brain works or if it's simply that higher objects tend to stand lut against the background of the sky but it's certainly real and it's something well worth keeping in mind when you want to direct your audience's attention. Point upwards if you want to draw attention to something, sideways if you want to tone it down a bit.
And finally, Chin Rey's addendum to an old publishers' slogan:
11. Content may be King but without Queen Context, he is nothing at all.
I don't know how Linden Realms are these days since I haven't tried it after they changed it. But it used to be one of the most immersive parts of SL and it's a good example how immersion factors can be applied here.
One thing that is obvious there, is that it's not about highly detailed graphics. The LL scene is about as low poly and "crude" as it gets in SL. But everything had a conistent style, there was nothng there that stood out and stole your attention. Except the crystals of course but those were the items you wanted to draw attention to. The low resolution simplified graphics actually helped a lot there because it made it easier to integrate whatever wacky avatars players and sabouteurs showed up with.
The Linden Realms music stream helps a lot too. It's actually brilliant, carefully designed to set a mood and emphasize rather than draw attention away from the visual scene and the action.
Of course, it also has something as rare in SL as speed. That always makes immersion so much easier, there's no time for your mind to wander.
