The power of immersive experiences

An immersion experience typically involves an interactive encounter that engages multiple senses and creates a realistic and intense environment. The experience is transportive, which means it takes viewers into another real-world or imaginative space through extended reality (XR). This blog will give a detailed insight into immersive technology and how it has changed the way people interact with and experience a new reality. It will highlight the ability of immersive experiences to build communities, foster inclusivity and create unforgettable experiences. The blog also dives into the burgeoning trend of integrating immersive experiences into art exhibitions and museums, like Van Gogh or Monet’s immersive experiences that have gained massive success.

What is a full immersion experience?

Immersive experiences are created to stimulate and artificially heighten three senses—sight, hearing, and touch. These experiences are made possible through extended reality (XR), including virtual, augmented, and mixed reality (VR, AR, MR), immersive audio, immersive video, and integrated audio-visual experiences. McKinsey states that immersive worlds like the metaverse are gaining traction among consumers, with 59% excited about transitioning their everyday activities into the metaverse.

In an immersive experience, participants engage in interactive activities and environments to fully submerge themselves in a theme or scenario, often using technologies like smartphones, VR headsets, head-mounted devices, or haptic gloves and controllers. They encounter highly detailed and themed environments, participate in storytelling, solve challenges or puzzles, assume roles, and interact with others. Time constraints or challenges add excitement, while group interaction and emotional engagement deepen the connection with audiences. Immersive experiences transport participants into a different world, fostering active engagement and heightened immersion.

What happens at an immersive experience?

• Build a community: Immersive experiences often involve shared physical spaces or virtual environments, allowing participants to develop stronger bonds. Due to shared interests, people can form a connection, enhancing togetherness. In 2022, the leading consumer electronics company launched, ‘Samsung 837X’, an immersive digital shopping experience on Decentraland. The activation created a replica of Samsung’s New York flagship store where technology enthusiasts could meet, interact, share ideas, and engage in quests to earn NFT badges and exclusive wearables.

• Break social barriers and foster inclusivity: Immersive experiences allow people, irrespective of their backgrounds, to come together for a common purpose and engage in immersive encounters creating a sense of belonging and shared identity. Virtual immersions allow individuals with disabilities like physical, visual, or hearing impairments to experience events, participate in activities and learn without barriers. For instance, individuals lacking physical mobility can access immersion experiences from any venue convenient to them, or people with hearing impediments can interpret experiences through visual cues and captions.

• Create unforgettable experiences: Immersive experiences, in some cases, go beyond visual and auditory stimulation, striving to engage multiple senses, such as touch, smell, and taste, which emotionally attaches users to a particular experience. Attention to detail in the spatial design also enhances the immersion and contributes to a more memorable experience. For instance, a fine arts company used immersive technology through augmented reality to create a René Magritte exhibit. The novel imagery and motion graphics allowed visitors to interact with the show creating a long-lasting impression on viewers. 80% of those who engaged with the immersion experience said it enhanced their visit.

• Take audiences on a journey: Immersive experiences, in some cases, are used to transport audiences to another world, taking them on a journey through elements of storytelling. For instance, National Geographic uses 360-degree videos and virtual reality to translate the brand narrative of ‘adventure.’ These immersive experiences turn the audience into the story's lead, allowing them to navigate new places, as with National Geographic’s Victoria Falls 360-degree video.

What are the immersive experience elements?

There are mainly three elements that are needed to make the immersive experience wholesome:

• Audio: High-resolution, realistic sound quality allows for true immersion and encourages visitors to remain engaged for an extended period. Spatial audio creates interactive, immersive experiences for listeners within virtual, augmented, and mixed reality (VR, AR, MR) environments, creating a heightened sense of realism. For instance, if a party themed on an enchanted forest is hosted through immersion technology, lighting and sound effects representing birds chirping or blowing wind can create the best immersive experience.

• Visual: Immersive experiences engage the visual senses through digital imagery, virtual projections, and holography created with high pixel quality and quantity, along with striking colors. With heightened visual stimuli, the person is unaware of the world outside the encounter. For instance, an individual can experience the sands of Bora Bora, virtually transporting them to the seaside through visual immersion.

• Touch: Creating convincing lifelike immersive experiences for individuals requires them to be able to feel it, and haptic technology helps achieve this. Tactile sensors can be integrated into haptic devices to gauge the forces applied by the user on the interface, making the experience of touching virtual elements nearly natural. For instance, if a person has ever played video games with a controller, they know and feel the vibrations when a car drifts, or a ball hits a crossbar.

Art immersive experiences

An immersive art experience is an interactive form of art that allows users to engage with the exhibits using technologies like virtual reality (VR) or digital projections. Immersive technologies transform artistic experiences, enabling visitors to view paintings or sculptures in new ways and establishing a deeper connection with the artist. Converting traditional artworks into virtual spaces eliminates the need for crowded lines and limited viewing distances in conventional art museums. Visitors can immerse themselves in the artist's studio or become part of the painting's landscape, making them a protagonist of the artistic immersion and no longer passive observers. Additionally, immersive technology applications offer a chance for those unable to visit in person to access rare art collections. This technology also provides artists with a new medium to captivate younger audiences accustomed to digital technology.

Van Gogh immersive experience

Immersive digital displays have brought Van Gogh's paintings back to life. The art immersion, ‘Van Gogh The Immersive Experience,’ with its 360-degree visuals and sounds, has captivated audiences and offers a one-of-a-kind art experience.

Van Gogh's vivid colors, brushstrokes, and instantly recognizable style are introduced throughout the encounter. This intriguing art installation is created by leveraging cutting-edge technology that creates animations through high-resolution scans. The dynamic artwork is elegantly projected onto the surroundings through projection mapping, transforming the physical space into a picture. The immersion also offers a separate virtual reality (VR) experience that uses a multi-sensory approach to take audiences on a 10-minute journey through the artist’s life. The attention to detail throughout the immersion and inventiveness distinguishes the presentation from traditional art displays.

The visual experience is enhanced with ambient music. Visitors may learn about Van Gogh's creative process and thoughts by reading descriptive information presented for each art piece. As you go through the exhibition, the art will surround and project onto you, transforming you into a part of the artwork.

Monet immersive experience

Audiences at the Monet immersive experience can view the artist’s masterpieces and the vistas that inspired some of Claude Monet's most famous works through virtual imagery. Visitors are also invited to digitally explore copies of Monet's essential art tools, easels, and personal things in the restored studio.

The experience is created using 360-degree immersive mapping and virtual reality (VR) technology. A 360-degree video projection encompasses various methods for transforming a spherical field of view into a two-dimensional image. Its purpose is to capture and convey the immersive experience of a 360-degree image to viewers.

The experience transports audiences brilliantly to Monet's world of bright color and rapid shift in impressionism. More than 300 of Monet's paintings and drawings have been digitally brought to life using cutting-edge technology, engulfing the viewer in a kaleidoscope panorama of color, light, and motion. Visitors are immersed in animated recreations of Monet's paintings as they move around the museum, creating a truly unique and fascinating experience.

Conclusion

Digitally enabled immersive experiences through VR, AR, MR, and other immersive technologies are powerful in engaging individuals through all senses and suspending reality. These experiences are emotionally compelling, educationally helpful, and long-lasting. Future technical breakthroughs may enable increasingly realistic simulations, widening use cases in industries like art, entertainment, education, and personal development.

Are you looking to launch an immersive experience for your brand or company? We can help you create unforgettable experiences by developing, scaling, and monetizing your idea in the metaverse. Get in touch with us!