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

2. 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

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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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.

7. Learning Participation Structures
Rocky Horror
Learning socially-developed structures
Example of Myst
What is the structure? Is it enough?

8. 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)