-- title: Creative Chimeras subtitle: Digital Creativity at the Immersive Experience Network Summit 2024 tags:

• post
• immersive
• digitalcreativity authors:
• Elliott Hall date: 2024-11-01 draft: true excerpt: The breadth of practitioners provided a fascinating study in how different people approached “immersive.” I have an older understanding of the word, closer to practitioners from theatre like Punchdrunk. Bridge Command, however, is structured and inspired by the tropes of TV Science Fiction. Jeroen van Hasselt of Entered has a background in video game design and then escape rooms, so he described his work as “live action video games.” Everyone is starting from their industry and then wandering into this shared space, picking up technologies, jargon, and design patterns as required feature: image: /public/assets/images/blog/Ligozzi_Una_quimera.jpg title: Chimera, attributed to Jacopo Ligozzi description: A 1590–1610 drawing of a chimera attributed to Jacopo Ligozzi

_ An earlier version of this post was originally published on https://www.linkedin.com/posts/elliott-hall-ghost-hunt_there-were-far-too-many-interesting-things-activity-7257078213674258432-VVCM._

There were far too many interesting things to see at the [https://www.linkedin.com/company/immersive-experience-network/](Immersive Experience Network Summit 2024) on the 21st of October, but some highlights for me were the panel on [https://bridgecommand.space/](Bridge Command) by [https://www.parabolictheatre.com/](Parabolic Theatre), Clockwork Dog, Megan Clifton’s presentation on the incredible shared world of [https://www.boomtownfair.co.uk/](Boomtown Festival), and https://entered.be/en/'s 200 minute (!) live-action horror game in an abandoned train yard, [https://entered.be/en/belevingen/demise-of-the-gricers/](Demise of the Gricers). IEN have begun to put some of the sessions online and I encourage you to burn some lunch hours checking them out.

“Immersive” is an amorphous term, and this range was on full display at the summit, with presentations from immersive experience designers, artists, technologists, escape room designers, and LARPers, with everyone wearing multiple hats. The range of practitioners provided a fascinating study in how different approaches are “immersive.” I have an older understanding of the word, closer to practitioners from theatre like https://www.punchdrunk.com/. Bridge Command, however, is structured and inspired by the tropes of TV Science Fiction. Jeroen van Hasselt of Entered has a background in video game design and then escape rooms, so he described his work as “live action video games.” Everyone is starting from their industry and then wandering into this shared space, picking up technologies, jargon, and design patterns as required.

My starting point was immersive theatre, when I created The [https://digitalghosthunt.com](Digital Ghost Hunt) with [https://www.kittheatre.org/](KIT Theatre), and my rough conceptual model was the collaborative make-believe of a primary school playground, with a hodge-podge of video game mechanics thrown in. I soon learned that I’d misjudged many of the game elements, and the idea moved closer theatre, but the original playground idea still fits: If you’ve played Floor is Lava, you’ve been part of an immersive experience.

The new experience I’m working on as part of my research for our Digital Creativity theme mixes physical and virtual play in a shared space using Unreal Engine. As the idea has developed, I’ve found myself wandering back in the direction of video games, using [https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262043915/elements-of-game-design/](Robert Zubek’s Elements of Game Design) to help me get control of the mechanics and systems that I’m building. I originally called the idea an escape room, because that was more easily understandable to normal humans than ‘hybrid XR immersive experience.’ Lately I’ve started calling it a live action video game, which was why I was interested to hear Entered describe their experiences in the same way. None of these terms are exactly right, because what I’m making sits at the intersection of several different forms, and it tends to move between them when I’m not looking.

It was inspiring to see so many other talented people at the summit as pleasantly lost in this space as I am, chatting with one another as they picked up bits of different creative industries and bashed them together like off-brand Legos. I’m excited to see what strange and wonderful creative chimeras emerge from those discussions. A huge thank you to the Immersive Experience Network for mounting the event.