The Game of Immersion
• Recording available to Members •
On May 6th we hosted Virtual IMERSA Day: “The Game of Immersion”, where we presented leaders in the games and planetarium industries who are moving ahead with exciting works, challenges and visions.
What do games tell us about being immersed? Whereas fulldome shows are traditionally a physically-passive activity – like theater, television and cinema – today, planetarium visitors enter theaters, including fulldomes, “primed” by having experienced deep physical, mental and/or emotional interactivity through applications afforded by readily accessible games on mobile devices and other platforms.
By deep interactivity we mean the sort that engages the player in some kind of strategy, a far-reaching balance of attention and action that can be physical, affective and/or even mathematical. Games may also enable group strategies where different people take on roles that complement each other, and which bring forth a different level of awareness of others, as if the group itself formed a body.
Our Presenters
Lindsay Grace
Award winning game designer and author at the University of Miami School of Communication. His book, Doing Things with Games: Social Impact through Design, is a well-received guide to game design. In 2020, he edited and authored Love and Electronic Affection: A Design Primer on designing love and affection in games. In 2021 he published the Amazon best seller, Black Game Studies: An Introduction to the Games, Game Makers and Scholarship of the African Diaspora. Grace’s creative work has been showcased internationally. He curated or co-curated Blank Arcade, Smithsonian American Art Museum’s SAAM Arcade, the Games for Change Civic and Social Impact conference program and others. He has given talks at the Game Developers Conference, SXSW, Games for Change Festival, the Online News Association, the Society for News Design, and many other industry events. Grace is Knight Chair in Interactive Media and an associate professor at the University of Miami School of Communication. He is Vice President for the Higher Education Video Game Alliance. https://professorgrace.com
Cora Braun
Cora Braun is a lecturer at the University of Applied Sciences and a PhD candidate at the Europe University Flensburg. Her academic background includes multimedia production and media conception with a special focus on planetariums. At the Kiel University of applied sciences she offers various courses, including the course “interactive fulldomeproduction” which is offered in cooperation with the director of the planetarium, Markus Schack, and the head of production, Marko Herrmann. Within the scope of university teaching the students learn to develop interactive applications using the Digistar System of the university´s in-house Planetarium – the Mediendom. Those prototypic games are designed for 1-8 players and last on average between 3 and 5 minutes. Many of these have already been awarded with a DUG Award. In order be able to present this work to the public on a regular basis they have developed a show format called “Game of Domes”. For further information visit: www.fh-kiel.de/kultur/mediendom/ueber-uns/studierendenarbeiten/
Patrick Pomerleau
is NEST Immersion’s co-founder and Project Manager with an academic background in science, electronics, mathematics and computer science. He is an independent developer recognized for his software and tools specialized for real-time fulldome applications that include audio reactive visuals. Fulldome Tetris developed at NEST Immersion is a well known retro game. 3D effects and a difficulty curve have been programmed to be very easy at the beginning and then increase so as to finish in few minutes, which helps for player rotation. The game is intended for 4 players in a horizontal dome where each one has a giant section of the display surface. When a player reaches the top, all their blocks fall on the audience. http://nestimmersion.ca
Judith Gieringer
Project Management, Communication
Dominic Kossinna
Technical Direction, Conception, Interaction Design
Michael Scholz
Founder, Creative Direction
"halbautomaten" is a Stuttgart-based design studio for communication and interaction in Germany. With their work, the crew around Michael Scholz makes complex content in need of explanation impressively visible, accessible and comprehensible. Visually and conceptually. In doing so, halbautomaten translates information of all kinds into charming and functioning communication, creating moments that connect and inspire. With infographics, animations and interaction created through the use of real-time engines and web technology, halbautomaten conveys knowledge at eye level.
With the "Kinetarium", halbautomaten have created an exciting new and award-winning platform for interactive and collaborative events for up to 300 participants. To turn planetarium visits around the world into unforgettable gaming events and attract new audiences. In the "Kinetarium," visitors jointly control the action on the planetarium dome in real time - simply via a website on their smartphone. This creates interactive experiences with a high learning and fun factor. Since 2020, halbautomaten have been a member of the Animation Media Cluster of the Stuttgart Region, and have served on the advisory board there since2021. https://halbautomaten.squarespace.com/en/index
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