Hamlet on the Holodeck: The Future of Narrative in Cyberspace Chapter 4: Immersion Hamlet on the Holodeck: The Future of Narrative in Cyberspace

Immersion “more real than reality” Taking over all of our attention Addresses inner desire to be more than we are Taking over all of our attention “A good story gives us something safely outside ourselves upon which we can project our feelings.” Fragile nature Langer’s discussion of watching Peter Pan

The Fourth-Wall Convention The challenge of participation Audience involvement is awkward How can we enter the fictional world without disrupting it? Boundary conventions

The Fourth-Wall Convention Playing with boundaries Discussion of reception of the first part of Don Quixote at the beginning of the second part Tristram Shandy (blank pages, renumbered chapters, etc.) Duck Amuck https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAA3DCEkVHs

Structuring Participation Bounding the allowable behaviors Make them appropriate Don’t frustrate the participant Set the right context Give a metaphor, tools, context, etc. Provide a mask through back-story, world, roles, goals Regulate arousal Belief Suspension of disbelief vs. the participant creating belief

Active Creation of Belief Audience has a desire to believe for many forms of content Act of reading is far from passive Alternative narratives Cast actors or people we know into roles Perform voices in our heads Adjust emphasis of the story to suit our interest Assemble story to match our own knowledge and belief.

Learning Participation Structures Rocky Horror https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8Q6ePjS_qQ Learning socially-developed structures Example of Myst https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-8CFun3nEw What is the structure? Is it enough?

Immersion vs. Engagement Attention vs. reflection Engagement Analyzing the creator’s goals, methods, etc. Problem solving (whodunit?, what does it mean?) Immersion + Engagement = Flow Games with proper level of difficulty (J.Y. Douglas)