Rethinking Immersion

This presentation proposes that our understanding of immersive audio and how to create immersive sonic experiences might be enriched by looking at how different disciplines have defined “immersive”. We will primarily be drawing on theatre, heritage and gaming. We consider the key facets of immersion that researchers and practitioners working in these disciplines have proposed, and interrogate how insights from these disciplines may give us new and productive ways to think about immersive audio. We propose that reflecting on sound practices by way of these cross-disciplinary insights can give us novel ways of approaching immersive sonic experiences.