Wow! It’s been a long time since I’ve contributed to the iMyth Blog site. It’s time to fire up the Furnace and get cooking again! This time it’s not about reporting about another article or another development but to support a concept that has pushed iMyth from the very beginning.
iMyth is built on three tenets; Physical, Social and unrepeatable. I’m writing this article to support the first and third tenets, phsyicality and non-repeatability. The support for this comes from an article written by Harry Baker for UploadVR, Two-Bit Circus Maze.
In Harry’s article, he talks about the Maze created by Treyarch/Ubisoft for the indoor amusement park of the future, Two Bit Circus. While this maze is nothing new or revolutionary, I really am drawn to two aspects about the article. The first aspect is that the maze was created with two facades; the mine/maze filled with skeletons and minotaurs and the second filled with iconic Rabids. The experience is basically the same except the experience can be a little more tame or less frightening, depending on the demeanor of the participant. iMyth has always supported an experience that changes dynamically in order to conform to the individual in order to provide them with a “rewarding” immersive experience. This will continue to be something iMyth focuses on. It is confirming to know that a funded immersive experience, Two Bit circus, also stands for the same concept.
The second tenet, physicality, seems like an unintentional element at Two Bit but really seemed to capture the attention of the article writer, Harry Baker. To quote his article, “For me, I find VR experiences that intersect with physical space and location really interesting. When I’m playing VR, immersion is everything for me. The more immersed I am, the more I enjoy the experience. To be able to walk through a physical space and feel the walls, the wind and feel like I’m in an elevator made the experience notably better. Had I completed the maze in an open-plan room with no walls or physical alterations, it just wouldn’t have been the same.“
I see this inclusion as further conformation that physicality is and will continue to be a significant contribution to the overall quality of an immersive experience. While I myself would not call the sensation ‘immersion’ but rather ‘presence’. Presence, as defined by philosopher Mel Slater, is the willful suspension of disbelief in the presence of an understood pretentious situation. Presence will continue to be an iMyth objective and physicalness will continue to be one of its primary focuses.
