Introduction

This chapter examines why ‘the immersive’ is a seductive concept in students' cultural, social, economic, and political moment, and thus why its study is important. It introduces key concepts and begins to problematise meaningful distinctions between analogue/digital, physical/virtual, and online/offline. The chapter traces a history of the ways storytelling, interaction, and immersion intersects. It analyses the ‘immersive turn’ within its broadest creative, technological, and social contexts, whilst recognising it as an increasingly economic and political project as well. Many immersive experiences privilege multi-sensorial encounters. Immersion is principally understood as the extent to which ‘computer displays are capable of delivering an inclusive, extensive, surrounding and vivid illusion of the reality to the senses of a human participant.’ The markers of immersion are physical, environmental, and even ritual; participants in such encounters will know to expect immersion and will understand how to perform their immersion as well. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.