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A Framework for Designing ‘Immersive’ Media
2.1. Can Subtler Media be ‘Immersive’? A trained practitioner engaging in mindfulness meditation has learned to engage an extreme level of focus and attention inward in the context of a supervisory meta-awareness aimed at identifying distractions. Without extensive training, non-meditators will be easily distracted without even noticing; they are simply not accustomed to heightened levels of engagement on subtle, internal sensations. Here we find the major design challenge of a system which promotes an experience of mindfulness: how could an interactive medium encourage complete engagement without simultaneously providing new sources of distraction which could dissuade meta-awareness? If a design is to guide users’ attention in patterns characteristic of mindfulness practice, it must not only hold their attention, but also be able to reclaim their attention when distracted. However, typical attention-grabbing systems involve either multi-faceted narratives or complex sensory worlds. This challenge drew me to center my design process on the concept of ‘immersion’: a term which seems to capture the media-driven, enveloped, attention-grabbing state I hope to instill with respect to mindfulness. I came across a series of theorists characterizing this term in different ways depending on the medium and field of study (Csíkszentmihályi, 1991; Ermi & Mäyrä, 2005; Nechtaval, 2001; Ryan, 2001; Slater, 2009). Video games, virtual reality, and literature certainly promote ‘immersion’ into compelling subjective worlds; however, trying to use such media to support the subtle, internal focus characteristic of mindfulness is problematic. Bright screens, 3D environments and narrative story-worlds may capture intense attention and focus, but they shift one’s perceptual context toward multi-faceted, non-actual, external realities which continue to inspire a continuously shifting focus reminiscent of the distracted mind states which are antithetical to mindfulness. This contrasts with my aim to engage such a process of media ‘immersion’ toward an inward, one-pointed concentration. While researchers discussing ‘immersion’ tend to focus on multi-faceted, external media, apparent themes across these theories raised an initial question in my attempt to theoretically ground my design process: could we develop a cross-disciplinary understanding of media ‘immersion’ which could be applied to the design of a subtler, internally-focused medium which inspires a single-minded attention? If I aim to design a novel medium which holds an ‘immersive’ quality of engagement and absorption toward a novel medium, I must first establish a common, interdisciplinary understanding which is independent of existing media; an understanding of ‘immersion’ which does not rely on technical setups or narrative story-worlds. For this reason, I set sail on an ambitious theoretical journey to establish a framework of ‘immersion’ which would align with all existing media. The reasoning here is that a broader re-conceptualization of media ‘immersion’ which holds no attachment to any specific medium 8