Concepts
While HI can be described as a diverse and evolving field, expanding the boundaries of how we interact with art, entertainment, and the world around us, they share certain core characteristics. While no single definition perfectly captures their essence, HI often shares these key qualities:
Participant Agency: Audiences become active participants, their choices and actions influencing the shape and outcome of the experience. This agency might take the form of physical movement through an environment, interactions with virtual characters or objects, or contributions to a co-created narrative.
Multimodality: HI frequently combines multiple artistic modalities. Installations might integrate with dance and music; gaming elements might intertwine with live theatre. These layers enhance the sensory richness and create a more holistic experience for the participant.
Hybrid Reality: The boundaries between the physical and digital dissolve. Augmented or Virtual Reality components mingle with tangible environments and, at times, live performers. This seamless blending creates a fluid sense of 'place' that participants inhabit bodily and psychologically.
Technological Mediation: Technology is central to enabling HI. Beyond the use of screens and headsets, sensors, motion-tracking systems, and advanced computing power facilitate interactions, adapt the experience in real-time, and create a sense of seamless merging between the virtual and the real.
Hyper Immersivity represents a paradigm shift in how individuals interact with their surroundings. They are increasingly prevalent across various domains. Examples of HI can be found in the following contexts:
Virtual Reality Experiences: Projects such as Dreamscape Immersive (Dreamscape Immersive, n.d. – a) offer group VR adventures where participants wear full motion-capture suits. They physically explore virtual environments, interact with each other and fictional characters. This full embodiment heightens the sense of immersion and agency.
Interactive Architecture: Works like Rafael Lozano-Hemmer's ‘Pulse Park’ (Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, 2008) transform urban spaces into interactive playgrounds. ‘Pulse Park’ features a canopy of 300 lights responding to participants' heartbeats, creating a visual representation of collective presence and emphasising the interconnectedness between individuals, the surrounding environment, and technology.
Interactive Installations: Works such as teamLab's digital art installations, (teamLab n.d. - a) invite viewers to become part of the artwork through movement, touch, and gesture. Their installations often respond to the presence and actions of participants, transforming the space into a dynamic, ever-changing environment. This illustrates the embedded nature of participation in HI.
Immersive Theatre: Productions like Punchdrunk's ‘The Burnt City’ (Punchdrunk, 2023) dismantle traditional theatrical boundaries. The audience moves freely through a multi-story building, encountering scenes and characters. Participants have agency in choosing which storylines to follow, and their very presence can even influence the performance.
Location-based Augmented Reality Games: Games like ‘Pokémon GO’ (Niantic, 2024 - a) and ‘Ingress’ (Niantic, 2024 - b) transform the physical world into a game space. Using smartphones, players interact with virtual objects and characters overlaid onto real-world locations. This exemplifies how HI can blur realities and turn everyday spaces into sites of play and discovery.
Mixed-Reality Performances: Artists like NONOTAK Studio merge physical installations with light, sound, and projection mapping to create immersive environments where performers and audience interact (Nonotak, n.d.). These performances challenge distinctions between the stage and the audience space, generating a sense of shared participation and a uniquely blended reality.
Hyper-Immersive Films: While still in their nascent stages, emerging filmmaking techniques using volumetric capture and real-time game engines hold the potential for a new kind of cinematic HI. Imagine being able to explore the film's world from different perspectives, perhaps even interacting with characters and influencing the story's progression.