I filmed an acoustic music video for one of my bands over the weekend, and it’s the first time I’ve been in charge of the filming process of one of our own videos. In our previous videos I’ve only been a part of the performance captured on camera, and my immersive experience this time around was very different to the previous ones. In the past videos I’ve been completely focused on the song and the performance, and didn’t pay much attention to the technical side of things, and didn’t look at the footage until I had to edit it. With this session I ended up filming almost everything so that I could be more prepared when I began editing, as I’d be more familiar with the footage going in.

On the set of our shoot I was constantly looking through the viewfinder, and had to make a conscious effort to pay attention to what part of the song we were up to. I was mainly focused on making the shots look good, but there were certain pivotal moments in the music that I wanted to compliment with camera movements. I was focused mainly on the visual side of things, and while the audio was helping me get immersed in the moment, the act of keeping the camera steady and achieving good footage was stopping me from paying attention to the sections of the song. I was listening passively and not actively. I think the experience I had shows that while it takes a mix of aural and visual stimulus to remain immersed, putting more focus on one over the other can affect your experience. Executing complex tasks in of itself is immersive, but when the task requires you to pay full attention to both the audio and video, it can be hard to properly immerse yourself in both.

I saw the film Ali’s wedding, which initially premiered at the MIFF film festival in the past month. The film takes place in Melbourne, and while the movie was an overall immersive experience and well constructed story, I found myself being taken out of the experience occasionally because I was focusing on the familiar locations and landmarks featured throughout the film. It’s rare that I see a feature film that takes place entirely in Melbourne, and much of the movie was spent whispering to my friends “I know that place”. Another reason I was taken out of the movie is because I was an extra in it back when it was filmed, and seeing myself in a movie was a weird experience and didn’t feel right. None of these things are necessarily due to the film itself, and are more due to my personal experiences with the places shown and my time on set and actually seeing the film-making process.

A key moment in the film takes place at Jewel station, and my only memory of Jewel station is going there by mistake and being half an hour late to a gig I was meant to be playing. Instead of being immersed in the scene, I was thinking of that experience and how I hated it. Seeing this movie made me wonder how people from places such as New York react when they see their hometown portrayed in a film, and if their capability to be immersed in that environment in a film is different to those who don’t live there. Aside from these issues the film was successful in immersing me in it’s world and story; it was only in certain key locations where I was taken out of it.

For a space to be truly immersive I believe it needs to successfully incorporate aural and visual stimuli as well as provide participants with some form of objective to keep them engaged from start to finish. I also think a successful immersive experience should make one forget about all else and focus only on the experience presented to them. I chose to explore this type of immersion by participating in games of laser tag at Chirnside park to see if the mix of these factors results in a successful immersive experience. Prior to participating, I believed that the mix of architectural design, sound design, and motivating game mechanics would result in an immersive experience that would keep me engaged in the activity, and make me focus on nothing but the game.

The target market for this immersive space is are demographics ranging from young teens to young adults. Most likely ages 12 to 25. The space itself is completely isolated from the outside world. There are no windows or any form of sunlight visible. The laser tag arena achieves immersion much like a casino does; by shutting you off from the real world and giving nothing else to focus on but the activity itself. The room is very conducive to the act of playing laser tag. The arrangement of the walls are maze like, and encourage you to keep exploring the arena, which ultimately leads you to finding other players. While the logical thing to do would be to take it slow and not rush through the maze-like space, you can’t help but want to move forward constantly to try and “escape” the feeling of being trapped in one part of the maze. It is this sensation that creates a fun environment, as everyone participating is constantly trying to fight the environment and as a result ends up running into opponents, causing conflict. There are certain parts of the arena that act as vantage points. From here you can see several sections of the room and gain a defensive advantage, but you are also usually left exposed from the sides you can’t see. These spots force you to take in your surroundings and listen out for any incoming opponents, as well as keeping an eye out for movement and looking for glowing vests and weapons that belong to the other team. The colour separation of the teams also plays a key role in immersing you in the game. You constantly have to be aware of which colours to shoot and which colours to defend if you are playing on a team.

The course also features key areas in which the players have to capture to gain objective-based points. Players are encouraged to shoot glowing sections on the roof (these sections are spread out across the corners of the room) and this creates an immediate conflict between the two teams. The sudden urge rush to these spots keeps players engaged in the game and gives them an objective to work towards. I think when it comes to successful immersion, the participant needs to be given stimuli to keep them actively participating, especially when it comes to physical activity. Laser tag does this successfully by giving players a significant amount of options when it comes to objective-based play, as well as having other players to watch out for as well.

The rage in game modes also helps keep things from becoming stale and repetitive. Some modes put you on teams, while others make it a free-for-all match. The variation in team based play as well as the additional objectives thrown in help achieve the space’s goal of keeping players engaged and focused on the game. The reason laser tag is so effective in terms of immersing you is because it doesn’t give you a chance to relax; It is so fast paced and frantic that you don’t have time to think about the outside world. The nature of the game plus the environment itself effectively work in tandem to immerse the player and make them feel a part of an artificial battle with their friends.

The space assumes that the target audience is impatient and impulsive, and I find this to be true of most participants I was put up against, including myself. The arena is made to encourage this kind of instinctive behaviour, and thus creates a fun and intense environment that keeps the game from becoming boring. Even players who are patient and take their time are still affected by those who rush through the course, so while the assumptions laser tag makes about its audience don’t apply to all participants, everyone still has to deal with the consequences of this assumed behaviour.

I think the parts of the room that allow for camping break the immersion somewhat. There are certain areas like mentioned earlier in which players can gain a vantage point and see a vast majority of half the arena, as well as some corners and hidden areas where players can hide and shoot others without being seen. When players are continuously being shot with no way of seeing or interacting with the person firing upon them, it stops being fun and starts being frustrating instead.

Besides the activity itself, the main reason the space is so immersive is the combination of the lighting, structural design and sound design. The space is dimly lit. This is done so that the main light sources in the environment are the lights built into the vests and guns worn by the players, as well as the objective-based lighting found at capture points. While those are the brightest light sources in the area, there are still many other skinnier and smaller lights that line the walls of the space, illuminating paths that you can choose to take and tempting you to venture further into the room in the hope you will run into other players. The room is also lit from the ceiling by soft white circular lights that really serve to give better visibility instead of directing you through the course. The lights on the vests and gun flicker and temporarily turn off upon a successful hit, which gives off the illusion that you’ve shot them. The way the lights of the equipment react to other players actions make the game feel real. There is also haptic feedback built into the vests, so if you are hit you feel a shake on your chest. This again helps to immerse the player in the game, and it is often startling when you are hit unexpectedly and feel a sudden shake by surprise. While there is no pain in being hit, it still acts as an incentive to play cautiously and to not let your guard down. This risk/reward factor engages players and helps maintain immersion throughout the match.

The sound of the space is very appropriately matched to the visuals. There is loud techno music playing throughout the matches, as well as audio cues telling you when objectives should be captured. The music helps maintain the fast-paced feel of the match and get players pumped up and excited, and drive players through the game as they play. Upon hearing a certain objective is ready for capture by the voiceover, players scramble to get to those areas. This is the most direct way that the sound design immerses the players; by giving an instruction that allows participants to have an influence on the outcome of the match. The sound of the guns themselves also helps keep players immersed. There is a sound for every time you fire your weapon as well as a sound for whenever you get hit. Both sounds are suitable for what they represent, and make you feel like your actions are having a direct impact upon the equipment. Even if you miss with your shot, you still feel as though you’ve done something when you hear the sound of your gun react with your pull of the trigger. Hearing an opponent’s vest ‘scream’ as its lights go out after you hit them if very satisfying, and it’s that satisfaction that motivates you to keep trying to recreate it again and again. If there was no sound as a response to someone being hit or you firing your weapon, the immersion would be gone almost completely. I think the sound design plays the biggest part in terms of keeping the player engaged in the environment and in the game.

Laser tag was successful in gaining and maintaining my focus, and the mix of all discussed factors resulted in an experience that I would definitely call immersive.

References:

https://culturedecanted.com/2014/07/31/the-psychology-of-the-maze-as-a-modern-symbol/

http://www.apa.org/monitor/2012/02/research.aspx

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3689871/

https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.lib.rmit.edu.au/docview/1680831690?accountid=13552&rfr_id=info%3Axri%2Fsid%3Aprimo

http://acrwebsite.org/volumes/7326/volumes/v19/NA-19

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