Towards Immersography: Considerations for an Integrated Understanding of Immersive Narrative Experiences

The concept of immersion has come to dominate the extended reality (XR) industries, leading to a renewed interest in the concept's relevance in society. The chapter investigates the evolution of the concept and proposes a model for the analysis of the ideation stage of immersive narrative experiences, as this stage precedes screenwriting in the production workflow of an immersive experience. The concept of immersography is proposed as a way to bridge the gap between colliding epistemologies, and between theory and practice, in the field of immersive narrative experiences. This term emphasizes the narrative connotation of immersion in relation to all-encompassing virtual or in-real-life environments that share three main components: spatial experience of the narrative universe, full-body interaction with the storyworld and its elements, and the capability to generate multiple narrative journeys through interactive narrative structures.