Exploring Stories, Reading Environments: Flow, Immersion, and Presence as Processes of Becoming

Authors

  • Elisabetta Modena Università degli Studi di Milano
  • Francesco Parisi Università degli Studi di Messina

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.6092/issn.2280-9481/12399

Keywords:

Flow, Immersion, Presence, Cognitive becoming, Video games, Walking simulators

Abstract

The article aims to deal with flow, immersion, and presence and their relation with storytelling and the exploration of space. In sections 2 and 3, we introduce the three concepts both from a psychological and from a neurocognitive approach. In section 4, we analyse a particular video game genre, the “walking simulator,” which focuses on immersion in a narrative and a space rather than in the mechanics of the game and which generates a profound user experience. In paragraph 5, we examine virtual reality artworks based on both storytelling and presence within a space, discussing their immersive nature. We hypothesise that the very concept of experience can be adopted as a key term to describe media engagement, since immersion is an essential requirement for an experience to take place. Finally, in section 6 we introduce and discuss the transformative character of experience, which is the mutual and co-constitutive cognitive becoming triggered by audiovisual media engagements.

Downloads

Published

2021-08-04

How to Cite

Modena, E., & Parisi, F. (2021). Exploring Stories, Reading Environments: Flow, Immersion, and Presence as Processes of Becoming. Cinergie – Il Cinema E Le Altre Arti, 10(19), 69–82. https://doi.org/10.6092/issn.2280-9481/12399

Issue

Section

Special