What is immersive?

“Immersive experiences draw you into their reality, putting you onto the same level as the action or environment. Inviting you to walk into worlds both beloved and brand new, immersive experiences encourage you to lose and sometimes, even discover, yourself in them.” — The Immersive Experience Institute

Creating a specific definition that encompasses all of immersive art is challenging because the category is still changing and evolving. For purposes of this grant, we will consider projects “immersive” if they aim to incorporate the audience into the story or world of the piece.

Any number of formats and mediums can be immersive, each with their own unique means of engaging the audience. This can include (but is not limited to): interactive theater, escape rooms, live action role playing, augmented reality, virtual reality, alternate reality games, interactive art installations, and other forms of live, immersive experiences.

Your project can be for audiences of any size—from one person to thousands—and it can be low tech or high tech. It can utilize live performers, physical environments, or could take place entirely online or in virtual reality. Experiences can be rooted in the fictional or factual, mundane or fantastical, but what matters is that a reality is created that is more compelling than your day-to-day existence.

From No Proscenium:

“At the end of the day, what matters is the creative intent. This is the central question of any immersive work: who is the audience and what are they here to do?”

These are some of the questions that will be used by our selection committee to determine whether or not we consider a project to be immersive:

Does the audience have an active or participatory role in the experience, or are they more of a passive observer?
How much agency do the participants have? Are they able to make meaningful choices that can affect the outcome of their experience?
Is the proposed work a multi-sensory experience? Does it involve touch, taste, or smell?
Does the work make the audience feel like they are in a different world or reality?
Does the world respond to the audience’s behavior and actions in any way?
Can the participants explore on their own terms or at their own pace?
Is there a barrier between the observer and the observed?
How does this differ from more traditional, non-immersive experiences?

Your project does not need to meet all of this criteria to be eligible for this grant, but these are intended to be guidelines for the kind of work we are looking to support.