Proof of Concept

An Apple representative once described the difference between Ambient and Immersive technologies as one requiring your full attention while the other can be present in the background. Both have similar goals though, to affect you in some way or else it would not be considered entertainment. The most commonly used examples of these technologies are music versus film or video games, although one could argue that television can become ambient (when having a conversation at the same time for example) and music can become immersive.

Looking at it more closely, immersiveness can be described as a state of suspended reality in order to fully enter the one created by a medium. A great story can cause this in countless ways, a song which resonates within you as well, a pleasant smell, a wonderful taste, a loving caress, etc. The difference between an ambient state and an immersive state is that your brain is your conscious thought is full taken over by the stimulus. In this optic, we tend to measure immersiveness in video games as the level in which a player becomes engaged by the game and loses track of time and other stimulus around him.

Transcendent would be the next step, surpassing the medium and creating emotional connections with the audience, like a smell that triggers a pleasant memory or a song that reminds you of a certain place. Transcendent also has different levels of depth with the most profound being what one could call a transcendent experience or roughly, a life changing one (be it for better or worse). Transcendence rewrites one’s reality to add what ever new information or experience into their fundamental “Truths”. Most transcendent events happen while one is young, helping to form their personality and are often associated with one of the two most powerful emotion of human life: Love or Fear. One thing to note, transcendence here are taken as singular events and not long term reprogramming.

Compared to immersiveness, transcendence doesn’t limit development. Immersive mediums often permit people to develop, be it socially, creatively or so forth, but it is limited to the context of that specific reality, once that reality is surpassed it becomes transcendent. In the end, transcendence is an extremely personal state which can difficulty be measured.

So why talk about Transcendent Entertainment? It all comes down to what one’s goal is in entertainment. All three states affect a person, ambience affects one’s mood, immersiveness can trigger an emotional response, and transcendence can empower people. There is no step by step method to reach the last state and both an ambient medium and an immersive medium can succeed in triggering it. This is the goal of various artists and artisans.

There is a lot of ground to cover to discuss all the aspects of these three states and looking at possible ways how to reach them. I’ll be writing about them from time to time on this blog, so for those interested, keep checking in. Next time, I’ll be looking at if from a sensory point of view.