Immersive media transforms how the audience experience and interact with the world. The ability to immerse the user within an experience or environment opens renewed possibilities for non-fiction and fiction narratives. In particular, the opportunity brought by extended realities technologies such as virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), mixed reality (MR) and even 360-degree video allow for the creation of innovative immersive experiences. Two of the sectors in which immersive content production has attracted most interest are the journalism and the video game industry. On the one hand, the use of immersive technologies for news reporting introduces a sort of ‘experiential’ dimension to news consumption, associated with the construction of spatial narratives, as well as open up new possibilities for audience engagement. On the other hand, the conjunction of immersive media and video games results in the creation of playful and interactive experiences based on spatiality and immersiveness principles, which can create a more natural and immersive interaction with the virtual world.
This collection aims to explore the impact of immersive media on journalism and gaming from the perspective of the content creation, including the emergence of novel forms of immersion and interaction through digital media, and the user experience, both in terms of usability and storyliving. Theoretical and empirical proposals addressing the following or similar lines of research are welcomed:
- Immersive journalism
- Production of non-fictional extended reality narratives
- User experience in virtual reality news stories
- Spatial narratives for news reporting
- Immersive serious games and journalism
- Playful news mechanics and products
- Virtual worlds and gaming
- Experimentation with immersive environments in video games
- Human-computer interaction and video games
- Playful immersive user experiences through digital games
- Immersive aesthetics of gaming and playing
- Metaverses
Sara Pérez Seijo is an Assistant Professor at Universidade de Santiago de Compostela. She holds a PhD in Communication and is a member of the Novos Medios Research Group at the Universidade de Santiago de Compostela (USC). In addition, she has been a visiting scholar at the Universidade Nova de Lisboa (Portugal), and was a beneficiary of the University Lecturer’s Training Programme (FPU), funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (Government of Spain). Her research focuses on digital native media, innovation, and new digital narratives such as immersive storytelling.
Disclosure Statement: Dr. Pérez Seijo has no conflict of interest to disclose.
All manuscripts submitted to this Article Collection will undergo a full peer-review. Please review the journal scope and author submission instructions prior to submitting a manuscript.
The deadline for submitting manuscripts is 16th February 2024.
