Immersive Environment
An immersive environment includes the use of technology to create a three-dimensional world for the user. With this, the user is able to experience the “virtual reality” as if it was reality. Examples of this can be found in games such as “The Sims” which allows the user to create their own Utopia.
After reading everyone’s posts about what an immersive environment is, the ideas about games and movies are permanently carved in my thoughts about what an immersive environment is. It is clear that we are in an era where technology is evolving is advancing quickly. Because of this, filmmakers and video game designers are able to make more realistic environments for the viewer/users. For example, the graphics in video games we see today like “America’s army” are much more detailed and fine-tuned compared to games that came out a decade ago such as “Time Crisis”, where every character in the game lacks detail and form. Nowadays, specific details are put into games to enhance the player’s experience. For instance, game designers incorporate the bleeding from wounds or the grains of dirt in the background environment. The video Winnie posted along with her post is a prime example of an immersive environment. The user is in a world where ghosts/monsters are literally jumping towards the screen. Yet people, mostly teens, are interested in this because it provides them with a realistic fantasy. Both video games and movies (Especially IMAX or movies in 3-D) are admired for its embodiment of realistic experiences.
To elaborate to Dianestolte’s post on how immersive technologies are being incorporated in businesses, 3Di allows for such a task to be accomplished. 3Di Inc. developed this to offer clients the advantages of using 3-dimensional environments in seminars. According to an article on Business Wire, 3Di is “a service that allows customers to hold their seminars through the use of 3-dimensional seminar rooms in 3-dimensional virtual worlds on the Internet”. I think the launch 3Di will be beneficial to many businesses because by incorporating 3-D experiences in seminars, people will be much more enticed to the product or idea being presented. Hence, it will allow businesses to expand on their way of advertising. 3Di seminars can be used for explanation of products, group interviews, press release conferences for new products, small-group seminars, virtual offices, corporate collaboration spaces, and more.
Some Key-Features of 3Di include:
- The benefit of the Internet allows participation from around the world.
- Immersive communication will enliven seminars, which traditionally have tended to be one-way communication.
- People can participate at home instead of finding a way to get to the seminar venue. – Environmentally friendly
Today, immersive environments are evident in many branches of the entertainment and business industry. I’m sure that in later years immersive environments will be used in other industries seeing how the popularity of virtual worlds is escalating.
Sources:
http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS116436+06-Oct-2009+BW20091006
Good job at synthesizing the other posts. What do you think? Are we headed in the right direction or should we be going another way?