The concept of immersion is fast becoming the key topic of interest in the study and practice of digital performance. With the reconfiguration of traditional performance spaces into experimental sites that place the viewer in the midst of the dramatic action, a sense of embodied immersion has emerged in what Steve Dixon calls’Digital Performance’.
The English word immersion is derived from the original Latin, immergere, which means to plunge or dip into (OLD). As such, it is possible to characterize the experience of immersion in digital performance as the sensory perception of submerging one’s body into a digitally mediated environment that is either a fully virtual or a hybrid (part virtual and part physical) space.
In recent years, the scope of performance studies has expanded beyond the confines of the theatre to include locative media performances in city streets and interactive drama games such as Facade and Prom Week, both of which are readily accessible online. Building on the performative potential of new media environments that incorporate the use of digital technologies and performance (broadly construed), this forum is open to anyone who is interested in the intersection of drama, performance, and digital media.
We hope you will join us in an exciting discussion on the significance of embodiment and immersion in digital performance, as well as the creative possibilities and limitations in designing an intermedial performance event.
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