Immersion

In the last decades of the 20 th century we have seen media theories and cognitive sciences grow, mature and reach their pinnacles by analysing, each from their own disciplinary perspective, two of the same core phenomena: that of media as the environment, transmitter and creator of stimuli, and that of embodied human mind as the stimuli receiver, interpreter, experiencer, and also how both are affected by each other. Even though treating a range of very similar problems and coming to similar conclusions, this still has not brought these two disciplines closer together or resulted in their interdisciplinary approach. They did coalesce in regards to traditional media such as film, but more points of connection are needed for untangling interactive and immersive media environments and their effects on human cognition, action, and perception. With the rise of VR and VR-like systems, especially as they start to evolve into the Metaverse as their main platform of interconnectivity, the tissue of the body becomes almost physically intertwined with that of the virtual surrounding it inhabits through immersion. Simultaneously, the interest in these disciplines arises anew, and especially the need to use their concepts in an interdisciplinary way. This paper's main interest is to bring these disciplines together in problematising the position of a physical body and its sensory-motor capabilities and their development within synthetic surroundings as Metaverse and anticipate potential downsides of Metaverse's uncontrolled growth. We will do so also by looking into Metaverse as an artificial-lifelike phenomenon, following artificial-life rules and evolving a completely new 'corporeality', a body which is completely adapted to virtual spaces. We call this body the Dry Body, an entity sharing cognitive resources with the physical body it is not a physical part of, but has to extend to.

Alternative worlds in classical Hollywood cinema are built from a variety of cinematic constructions. The credibility of such worlds depends on the extent to which the film’s creators wish to stray from the concept of reality. Abstract notions of colour, dimensionality, light and sound contrast more complex cinematic concepts such as narrative, character roles, credibility and geography. It is the specific combination of these elements chosen by filmmakers which determines whether audiences are able to become immersed into the world by perceiving it as a real and coherent entity.
This thesis is an exploration into how composers James Horner and Howard Shore use music to help build conceptualisations of place in their two fantasy film series’, Avatar and the Lord of the Rings trilogy. It offers three hermeneutical levels of analysis which provide different insights into how the composers musically construct a sense of place: through establishing spatial identities, through music’s relation to the narrative, and from a more conceptual viewpoint relating to power struggles in the real world. It ultimately aims to evaluate the extents in which music’s contribution toward creating a sense of place not only influences the construction of the worlds themselves, but how it is capable in altering the way audiences perceive them as credible entities as a whole.

Entrare nell’immagine: un desiderio che accompagna l’umanità
dall’alba dei tempi, perdendosi nelle nebbie del mito. Un desiderio
che nei secoli ogni cultura visuale ha cercato di realizzare con
i mezzi di volta in volta disponibili. E che oggi le tecnologie di realtà
virtuale promettono di soddisfare: l’immagine si fa ambiente immersivo,
ci avvolge a 360 gradi, è presenza in carne e ossa. Saltano
le cornici che la confinavano in un mondo a parte. Persino il
medium in cui si concretizza sembra farsi trasparente. Una volta
aperto il passaggio fra il mondo reale e il mondo iconico, dobbiamo
però aspettarci un varco percorribile nei due sensi: penetriamo
nel mondo dell’immagine, ma l’immagine esonda nel nostro
mondo. Al desiderio si accompagna il timore per tale tracimazione.
Questo libro esplora quel doppio movimento, e ricostruisce la
storia di quel desiderio-timore, delle fantasie che ha innescato e
delle strategie escogitate per corrispondervi: dal proto-immersivo
Narciso ai caschi VR, passando per il trompe-l’oeil e le sculture
viventi, gli specchi e le architetture illusionistiche, i panorami e le
fantasmagorie, l’arte-ambiente, il cinema in 3D. Indugiando sulla
soglia che al contempo separa e congiunge quei due mondi, ne
subiamo il fascino, e ne apprezziamo il rischio.

This paper presents a non-intrusive system that gives the illusion of a 3D immersive and interactive environment with 2D projectors. The user does not need to wear glasses, nor to watch a (limited) screen. The virtual world is all around him, drawn on the floor. As the user is himself immersed in the virtual world, there is no need for a proxy like an avatar; he can move inside the virtual environment freely. Moreover, the I-see-3D system allows a user to manipulate virtual objects with his own body, making interactions with the virtual world very intuitive. Giving the illusion of 3D requires to render images in such a way that the deformation of the image projected on the floor is taken into account, as well as the position of the user’s “eye” in its virtual world. The resulting projection is neither perspective nor orthographic. Nevertheless, we describe how this can be implemented with the standard OpenGL pipeline, without any shader. Our experiments demonstrate that our system i...

Plethsymographic recordings are used to evaluate changes in peripheral vascular tonus. Twenty-six volunteers (15 men, 11 women) with a mean age 31 years were included in this study. Plethsymographic recordings were done both at baseline and +40C temperatures bilaterally. Significant reductions in systemic blood flow were noted with different maneuvers. Reactive hyperemia occurring after ischemia was local, however local reduction in blood flow after cold test was systemic. As the local temperature increased, the blood flow parameters normalized, too. In normal controls these values normalized in 20 minutes. The changes in vasomotor tonus due to cold test demostrated a parallel pattern.

Talc samples in both sheet and powder form are studied by adsorption calorimetry and adsorption isotherm techniques. A model is used to determine the solid surface energy, the solid surface tension and the dispersive, acidic, and basic components of these terms. These results are introduced in an approximate equation relating adsorption to contact angle data. Experimental contact angles are in correct agreement with this approach. The Neumann equation of state is used to fit the data and discussed. It appears as a numerical form of the general equation taking into account gas adsorption and film pressure. Behaviors of talc in contact with liquids do not appear very different whether the solid is in sheet or powder form. C 2002 Elsevier Science (USA)

In order to bridge interdisciplinary differences in Presence research and to establish connections between Presence and “older” concepts of psychology and communication, a theoretical model of the formation of Spatial Presence is proposed. It is applicable to the exposure to different media and intended to unify the existing efforts to develop a theory of Presence. The model includes assumptions about attention allocation, mental models, and involvement, and considers the role of media factors and user characteristics as well, thus incorporating much previous work. It is argued that a commonly accepted model of Spatial Presence is the only solution to secure further progress within the international, interdisciplinary and multiple-paradigm community
of Presence research.

Aqueous contaminant removal in the presence of metallic iron (e.g. in Fe 0 /H 2 O systems) is characterized by the large diversity of removing agents. This paper analyses the synergistic effect of adsorption, co-precipitation and reduction on the process contaminant removal in Fe 0 /H 2 O systems on the basis of simple theoretical calculations. The system evolution is characterized by the percent Fe 0 consumption. The results showed that contaminant reduction by Fe 0 is likely to significantly contribute to the removal process only in the earliest stage of Fe 0 immersion. With increasing reaction time, contaminant removal is a complex interplay of adsorption onto iron corrosion products, co-precipitation or sequestration in the matrix of iron corrosion products and reduction by Fe 0 , Fe II or H 2 /H. The results also suggested that in real world Fe 0 /H 2 O systems, any inflowing contaminant can be regarded as foreign species in a domain of precipitating iron hydroxides. Therefore, current experimental protocols with high contaminant to Fe 0 ratios should be revisited. Possible optimising of experimental conditions is suggested.

Precooling refers to the rapid removal of field heat from freshly harvested fruits and vegetables prior to shipping, storage or processing. Hydrocooling is a form of precooling in which the product is sprayed with or immersed in an agitated bath of chilled water. The design of hydrocooling systems requires accurate estimation of the hydrocooling times of fruits and vegetables as well as the corresponding refrigeration loads. Numerous methods for predicting the hydrocooling times of fruits and vegetables have been proposed, and the designer is faced with the challenge of selecting an appropriate estimation method from those available. Therefore, this paper reviews selected estimation methods for the hydrocooling times of fruits and vegetables, and quantitatively evaluates the selected hydrocooling time estimation methods by comparing their numerical results to a comprehensive experimental hydrocooling time data set compiled from the literature.

To evaluate the short-and long-term efficacy of exercise therapy in a warm, waist-high pool in women with fibromyalgia. Methods. Thirty-four women (mean ؎ SD tender points 17 ؎ 1) were randomly assigned to either an exercise group (n ‫؍‬ 17) to perform 3 weekly sessions of training including aerobic, proprioceptive, and strengthening exercises during 12 weeks, or to a control group (n ‫؍‬ 17). Maximal unilateral isokinetic strength was measured in the knee extensors and flexors in concentric and eccentric actions at 60°/second and 210°/second, and in the shoulder abductors and adductors in concentric contractions. Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) was assessed using the EQ-5D questionnaire; pain was assessed on a visual analog scale. All were measured at baseline, posttreatment, and after 6 months. Results. The strength of the knee extensors in concentric actions increased by 20% in both limbs after the training period, and these improvements were maintained after the de-training period in the exercise group. The strength of other muscle actions measured did not change. HRQOL improved by 93% (P ‫؍‬ 0.007) and pain was reduced by 29% (P ‫؍‬ 0.012) in the exercise group during the training, but pain returned close to the pretraining level during the subsequent de-training. However, there were no changes in the control group during the entire period. Conclusion. The therapy relieved pain and improved HRQOL and muscle strength in the lower limbs at low velocity in patients with initial low muscle strength and high number of tender points. Most of these improvements were maintained long term.

This study investigated the fracture resistance of maxillary acrylic resin complete dentures subjected to long-term water immersion. Maxillary acrylic resin complete dentures were fabricated from five denture base resins. Half of the dentures were stored in water for 50 h, and the other half were kept in water for 180 days before testing. Ten specimens were fabricated per group. The flexural load at the proportional limit (FL-PL) of the dentures was tested. A two-way anova revealed a significant difference in FL-PL because of the denture base material variable. There were no significant differences in FL-PL because of the effect of water immersion and the interaction between the effect of water immersion and the denture base material. The FL-PLs of the dentures fabricated with the two conventional heat-processed resins, the pour-type autopolymerizing resin and the microwave energy-processed resin were not significantly different from each other; they were significantly higher than the light-activated resin in regard to their FL-PL. The FL-PLs of the maxillary acrylic resin complete dentures did not change after long-tern water immersion, and the FL-PL of the denture fabricated from the light-activated resin was lower than those of the other materials.

In this paper, we review the use of virtual and augmented reality technologies for capture and externalization of tacit knowledge from complex activity in knowledge-intensive professions. We focus on technologies for converting experience hidden in activity with the aim to boost industry competitiveness, innovation, and facilitate learning on the job. As such types of knowledge and experience are difficult to capture and represent in traditional media, we explore emerging technology along two lines of investigation. First, we look at applications of virtual reality to then, second, focus on using sensors, augmented reality, and wearable technologies. We discuss existing and future applications of experience capturing with virtual and augmented reality technologies. This review provides a comprehensive overview for those interested in recording virtual, real, and augmented activities, methods for delivering the recorded data, and extracting knowledge.

This study is part of a master’s dissertation aiming to investigate the immersion of user interfaces in first person games using virtual reality. This evaluation is based on the concepts established by the Diegesis theory. Based on that, a table was created with the identified elements in the games that induce more or less immersion to the player. Through the data collected, a questionnaire was developed to obtain information from developers, designers and players, to evaluate the most and the fewer immersive elements of the interfaces in the games selected. The results showed that the Diegetic and Spatial interfaces are the most immersive for virtual reality first person games, and the less immersive were the Meta and Non-Diegetic interfaces. Thus these results can be important if they influence the creation of games interfaces more immersive, because all players want to be immersed when playing games, in particular when playing in virtual environments.

This survey addresses the immediate physiological reactions to immersion in cold water: cold shock response, diving reflex, cardiac arrhythmias and hypothermia. Cold shock response is the initial sympathetic reaction to immersion in cold water. The diving reflex is elicited by submersion of the face. Afferent and efferent nerves are the trigeminal and vagal nerves. Cardiac arrhythmias occur immediately after immersion. If the immersion persists, hypothermia becomes an issue. Hypothermia is delayed by habituation to immersion in cold water as well as insulating garments, subcutaneous fat and a large lean body mass.

To pay tribute to the contributions made by Wallace Lambert in the field of immersion education at an international level, this article highlights initiatives undertaken to revitalize regional languages through immersion education in France. Based on the immersion model, school-based programs have been implemented in France to teach regional languages such as Occitan, Basque, and Catalan in the south, Corsican on the island of Corsica, Breton in the northwest, and German in the eastern regions of Alsace and Moselle. This article points out many differences across these regional contexts, but concludes by emphasizing common issues that need to be addressed across the different regions with respect to pedagogical practices and professional development.

The electrochemical behavior of Cu–Ni alloys with different Ni contents (5–65mass%) in acidic sulfate solutions was investigated. The effects of working conditions e.g. concentration of sulfate ions, immersion time and temperature were studied and discussed. In this respect, open-circuit potential measurements, polarization techniques and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) were used. Potentiodynamic measurements revealed that the increase in the Ni content

Mit diesem Titel liegt eine veröffentlichte Magisterarbeit vor, deren redaktioneller Beschreibungstext auf dem Buchrücken einen „Blick über den Tellerrand hinaus“ verspricht. Dieses Versprechen soll sich durch drei Leitaspekte einlösen, die den Einfluss von virtuellen Welten auf das menschliche Verhalten fokussieren, zweitens das Suchtpotenzial und die Isolation von der Außenwelt thematisieren und drittens die neuen sozialen Komponenten beleuchten, die durch die ‚Begehung’ virtueller Welten ermöglicht werden.

« Rien n'entre dans la mémoire, et a fortiori dans l'intellect, sans avoir passé par les sens et par toute la série des facultés intérieures, forçant porte après porte par l'intensité de l'impression et par la vertu des émotions soulevées 1. » Cette citation du théoricien humaniste Giordano Bruno (1548-1600), s'appuyant en partie sur les observations de saint Thomas, met en évidence que l'exploration du système perceptif chez l'être humain n'est pas une quête nouvelle. Les défis posés par le raisonnement, la capacité de mémorisation et l'expérience sensible ont depuis longtemps retenu l'attention des scientifiques. Bien qu'aujourd'hui nous en connaissions un peu plus sur le sujet, l'expérimentation se poursuit toujours dans le but d'en savoir davantage sur nos comportements. Nombre de chercheurs-dont Umberto Maturana et Francisco Varela-soutiennent que la biologie est présentement le siège d'une révolution comparable à celle qu'a connue la physique au cours de la première moitié du XX e siècle et que cette révolution présente une vision radicalement nouvelle des processus de la vie grâce auxquels les êtres humains acquièrent la connaissance * Cet essai développe et documente les notions de musée en tant qu'univers sensoriel brièvement présenté dans les articles suivants : « L'immersion sensible en exposition : Sensations urbaines une approche différente à l'urbanisme au Centre Canadien d'architecture »,

Following accidental immersion in cold water, the chance of survival through the initial short-term period may depend on manual dexterity for survival tasks. We aimed to study the time course of impairment of manual dexterity during the initial stages of immersion. We investigated gross (manipulating harness buckles) and fine (Purdue Pegboard Assembly) manual dexterity of 11 male and 15 female subjects with either no immersion (Control) or after immersion of right and left hand and forearm in 10 degrees C water for 30, 120, and 300 s. Exposure lengths were presented in a counter-balanced order in a single session. Mean local skin temperature decreased significantly with cold-water immersion, with the amount of cooling proportional to the length of exposure. Buckle test times increased significantly from 9.1 +/- 3.0 s during Control to similar values of 19.5 +/- 11.1 s and 18.14 +/- 12.1 s after 120 and 300 s of immersion. Pegboard scores were significantly lower at 40.2 +/- 7.6 piec...

The combination of different materials in an implant gives the opportunity to better fulfill the requirements that are needed to improve the healing process. However, using different materials increases the risk of galvanic coupling corrosion. In this study, coupling effects of goldanodized titanium, stainless steel for biomedical applications, carbon fiber reinforced polyetheretherketone (CFRP), and CFRP containing tantalum fibers are investigated electrochemically and by long-term immersion experiments in simulated body fluid (SBF). Potentiodynamic polarization experiments (i/E curves) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) of the separated materials showed a passive behavior of the metallic samples. Anodized titanium showed no corrosion attacks, whereas stainless steel is highly susceptibility for localized corrosion. On the other side, an active dissolution behavior of both of the CFRPs in the given environment could be determined, leading to delaminating of the carbon fibers from the matrix. Longterm immersion experiments were carried out using a setup especially developed to simulate coupling conditions of a point contact fixator system (PC-Fix) in a biological environment. Electrochemical data were acquired in situ during the whole immersion time. The results of the immersion experiments correlate with the findings of the electrochemical investigation. Localized corrosion attacks were found on stainless steel, whereas anodized titanium showed no corrosion attacks. No significant differences between the two CFRP types could be found. Galvanic coupling corrosion in combination with crevice conditions and possible corrosion mechanisms are discussed.

Despite widespread and increasing use of immersion in water during labor, birth, or both in many different countries, no reliable information is available about its advantages, hazards, and resource implications. We describe the development of immersion in water during labor and birth, the current use of this form of care in the United Kingdom, the research that has been conducted to date, and possible strategies for future research. Three approaches to research are suggested: a survey of existing practice, a randomized controlled trial, and a conjdential register of serious adverse events. (BIRTH 20:2, June 1993)

Biodiesel, as an alternative fuel, is gradually receiving more popularity for use in internal combustion engines. However questions continue to arise with regard to its compatibility with elastomeric materials. The present work aims to investigate the comparative degradation of physical properties for different elastomers [e.g. ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM), silicone rubber (SR), polychloroprene (CR), polytetrafluroethylene (PTFE) and nitrile rubber (NBR)] upon exposure to diesel and palm biodiesel. Static immersion tests in B0(diesel), B10 (10% biodiesel in diesel), B20, B50 and B100(biodiesel) were carried out at room temperature (25 °C) for 1000 h. Different physical properties like, changes in weight and volume, hardness and tensile strength were measured at every 250 h of immersion time. Compositional changes in biodiesel due to exposure of different elastomers were investigated by Gas chromatography mass spectroscopy (GCMS). The overall sequence of compatible elastomers in palm biodiesel is found to be PTFE > SR > NBR > EPDM > CR.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360544210007139

This study examined the effect of a short cold water immersion (CWI) intervention on rectal and muscle temperature, isokinetic strength and 1-km cycling time trial performance in the heat. Ten male cyclists performed a 1-km time trial at 35.0 ± 0.3 • C and 40.0 ± 3.0% relative humidity, followed by 20 min recovery sitting in either cold water (14 • C) for 5 min or in 35 • C air (control); a second 1-km time trial immediately followed. Peak and mean cycling power output were recorded for both time trials. Rectal and muscle temperature, and maximal isokinetic concentric torque of the knee extensors were measured before and immediately after the first and second time trials. Rectal temperature was not different between cold water immersion and control conditions at any time points. After the second time trial, however, muscle temperature was significantly lower (−1.3 ± 0.7 • C) in cold water immersion compared with the control trial. While peak and mean power decreased from the first to second time trial in both conditions (−86 ± 54 W and −24 ± 16 W, respectively), maximal isokinetic concentric torque was similar between conditions at all time points. The 5 min cold water immersion intervention lowered muscle temperature but did not affect isokinetic strength or 1-km cycling performance.

The transfer from the self-polishing organotin to tin-free antifouling coatings has created a new learning curve for the shipping industry. This study investigated the hydrodynamic performance of four commercially available antifouling coatings that were subjected to both static and dynamic seawater immersion. The results showed that each coating type developed its own characteristic fouling community and that there were significant differences in drag properties that were further modified by the static or dynamic immersion conditions.

How the aesthetics of virtual reality and the promise of embodied "presence" have been re-articulated from the camera obscura and magic lantern, through the nineteenth-century's panoramic and stereoscopic formats, and in today's emergent forms of AR and VR.

This presentation focuses on a study carried out in a French immersion charter school on the scores first-graders obtained on two reading benchmark tests, the DIBELS and its equivalent in French, the IDAPEL. A statistical analysis of the results shows a strong correlation between the scores on the two tests for all the categories of reading predictors and indicate that the students’ level of French can account for some of the score differences observed between the two tests. This study thus questions the necessity of conducting two separate reading benchmark tests and offers insights to educators on reading remediation strategies.

Immersion, in video games, is essential to a good gaming experience. To date, many studies have interested in immersion and presence. Those two phenomena depend on attentional process and pleasant game situation. Yet, this two elements also impact another one: the capacity to perceive time passing. This study focuses on the relation between time perception and immersion. It tries to see how far immersion can be predicted by clues of time distortion. To do this, players were asked to estimate the duration they played during two consecutive game sessions. Results indicate that more players are immerged, more they under-estimate the passing time. The distortion of time perception can serve to quantify immersion.

Background: More evidence is needed for diagnostic criteria of Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) before it can be included as a disorder, according to DSM-V. Some studies suggest differences between an addicted and highly engaged online-gaming behavior. The current pilot study investigates differences between engagement and addiction in a German sample of high-level players of World of Warcraft. Methods: 577 participants (mean age 24.38 years; 77.1% male) from German speaking areas (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) participated in our online-study with an adapted version of the “Asheron’s call” questionnaire (covering six addiction criteria including salience, euphoria, tolerance), the Internet Addiction Scale (ISS-20; covering criteria like tolerance and withdrawal symptoms), a quality-of-life questionnaire (WHOQOL-BREF), an Immersion Tendency Questionnaire and a brief personality questionnaire. Results: 93.6% are high-level player (level 85); only 3.1% are addicted to the internet (ISS...

Fracture resistance of provisional restorations is an important clinical concern. This property is directly related to transverse strength. Strengthening of provisional fixed partial dentures may result from reinforcement with various fiber types. This study evaluated the effect of fiber type and water storage on the transverse strength of a commercially available provisional resin under two different conditions. The denture resin was reinforced with either glass or aramid fiber or no reinforcement was used. Uniform samples were made from a commercially available autopolymerizing provisional fixed partial denture resin. Sixteen bar-shaped specimens (60 Â 10 Â 4 mm) were reinforced with pre-treated epoxy resin-coated glass fibers, with aramid fibers, or with no fibers. Eight specimens of each group, with Downloaded from and without fibers, were tested after 24 h of fabrication (immediate group), and after 30-day water storage. A three-point loading test was used to measure the transverse strength, the maximal deflection, and the modulus of elasticity. The Kruskal-Wallis Analysis of Variance was used to examine differences among the three groups, and then the Mann-Whitney U Test and Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test were applied to determine pair-wise differences. The transverse strength and the maximal deflection values in the immediate group and in the 30-day water storage group were not statistically significant. In the group tested immediately, the elasticity modulus was found to be significant (P ¼ 0.042). In the 30-day water storage group, all the values were statistically insignificant. The highest transverse strength was displayed by the glass-reinforced resin (66.25 MPa) in the immediate group. The transverse strength value was 62.04 MPa for the unreinforced samples in the immediate group. All the specimens exhibited lower transverse strength with an increase in water immersion time. The transverse strength value was 61.13 MPa for the glass-reinforced resin and was 61.24 MPa for the unreinforced resin. The aramid-reinforced resin decreased from 62.29 to 58.77 MPa. The addition of fiber reinforcement enhanced the physical properties (the transverse strength, the maximal deflection, the modulus of elasticity) of the processed material over that seen with no addition of fiber. Water storage did not statistically affect the transverse strength of the provisional denture resin compared to that of the unreinforced resin. The transverse strength was lowered at water storage but it was not statistically significant. The transverse strength was enhanced by fiber addition compared to the unreinforced resin. The glass fiber was superior to the other fiber. Also the modulus of elasticity was enhanced by fiber addition compared to the unreinforced resin.

Science museum exhibits embody both content and form, and these aspects are not independent of each other. However, selecting the right form for a given content is not straightforward. This paper provides an example of how science education theory, specifically the notion of border crossing, can be applied to achieve an understanding of the immersion exhibit form. The argument proceeds by demonstrating how the characteristics of immersion exhibits, and visitors to them, classify them as microcultures, and examining the implications of this for exhibit design using a hypothetical immersion exhibit as a case. Finally, the generalisability of the findings is discussed as an example of applying education theory to exhibit development.

3D film’s explicit new space depth arguably provides both an enhanced realistic quality to the image and a wealth of more acute visual and haptic sensations (a ‘montage of attractions’) to the increasingly involved spectator. But David Cronenberg’s related ironic remark that “cinema as such is from the outset a ‘special effect’” should warn us
against the geometrical naiveté of such assumptions, within a Cartesian ocularcentric tradition for long overcome by Merleau-Ponty’s embodiment of perception and Deleuze’s notion of the self-consistency of the artistic sensation and space. Indeed, ‘2D’ traditional cinema already provides the accomplished “fourth wall effect,” enclosing the beholder behind his back within a space that no longer belongs to the screen (nor to ‘reality’) as such, and therefore is no longer ‘illusorily’ two-dimensional. This kind of totally absorbing, ‘dream-like’ space, metaphorical for both painting and cinema, is illustrated by the episode Crows in Kurosawa’s Dreams (1990). Such a space requires the actual effacement of the empirical status of spectator, screen,
and fi lm as separate dimensions, and it is precisely the 3D characteristic unfolding of merely frontal space layers (and fi lm events) out of the screen towards us (and sometimes above the heads of the spectators before us) that reinstalls at the core of the film-viewing phenomenon a regressive struggle with reality and with different degrees of realism, originally overcome by film since the Lumière’s Arrival of a Train at Ciotat (L’Arrivée d’un train en gare de la Ciotat, 1896) seminal demonstration. Through an analysis of crucial aspects in Avatar (James Cameron, 2009) and the recent Cave of Forgotten Dreams (Werner Herzog, 2010), both dealing with historical and ontological deepening processes of ‘going inside,’ we shall try to show how the formal and technically advanced component of those 3D-depth films impairs, on the contrary, their apparent conceptual purpose on the level of contents, and we will assume, drawing on Merleau-Ponty and Deleuze, that this technological mistake is due to a lack of recognition of the nature of perception and sensation in relation to space and human experience.

This article presents the category of emersion in videogames. The author of this article understands emersion as an experience of such elements of a game that weaken the impression of non-mediated participation in events presented in the game (some researchers call this impression "immersion"). Emersive elements of the game reveal the mediated character of the action the player takes part in. Emersion may have varied status: it may be incidental (e.g. when it is a result of an unforeseen glitch), repeatable (e.g. as a result of a mechanism typical for a specific genre) or designed.
The last case seems to be the most interesting one, because designed emerisve elements may provide meaningful or artistic results. Designed emersive factors bring new possibilities of creation, which are not achievable through the non-digital and non-interactive forms of expression.

Abstract

Die in kommunikationstechnologischen Medien vermittelten Immersionswelten durchdringen und überwölben zunehmend die Lebenswelt. Apparative Immersionen bestehen in erster Linie aus dem Erlebnis hergestellter Atmosphären, die Befindlichkeiten auslösen, durch welche die abstrakt-symbolischen Interaktionsräume überhaupt erst leibliche Relevanz erhalten. Eine Klärung des Verhältnisses von Immersion und Atmosphäre steht bislang noch aus. Hierzu wird ein Atmosphärenbegriff entwickelt, der an die Phänomene des Immersiven anschließbar ist. Das Erleben von Atmosphären hat einige besondere Merkmale, die von den vorliegenden Atmosphärenkonzepten nicht berücksichtigt werden. Besonders der Aspekt der Zeitlichkeit, der sich als zentral für die Entstehung von Atmosphären erweist, wird nicht hinreichend in die Entwürfe einbezogen. Darauf reagiert eine Atmosphärenkonzeption, die auf drei an den Paradigmen des Em-bodiment und Enaktivismus orientierten Theoriemodulen aufbaut. Diese erlauben die Affizierung der leiblichen Befindlichkeit durch Umweltwahrnehmungen zu konzeptualisieren, wie sie für Atmosphären typisch ist. Atmosphären können hernach als ein Gemütszustand neben Emotionen und Stimmungen verortet werden. Es zeigt sich, dass Atmosphären als eine eigene Kognitionsform für imaginär vollendete Zukünfte organischer Zustände auffassbar sind, die dem Subjekt im Latenten verborgene Handlungen und imaginäre Körper-Umwelt-Relationen vermitteln. Immersionswelten können nunmehr aus der Leiblichkeit des Menschen verstanden werden, womit auch die Medientheorie und Soziologie eine neue Untersuchungsperspektive gewinnt. Im Zeitalter der Immersion tritt eine neue Art von Vergesellschaftung auf, die atmosphärisch vermittelte Intensitäten zum Gegenstand hat.

Abstract (English)

Immersive worlds provided by technological media are more and more protruding and overarching the lifeworld. Technologically enabled immersions essentially consist of the experience of atmospheres which trigger states of mind and thereby establish a connection between abstractsymbolic realms and bodily relevancies. A profound analysis of the relation between immersion and atmospheres is still outstanding. In this paper a concept of atmospheres is presented that relates this type of experience to the phenomena of immersivity. The perception of atmospheres is characterized by some specific cognitive attributes that are not taken into account by the current concepts of atmospheres. In particular, temporality, which proves to be central to the constitution of atmospheric experience, is not sufficiently credited. In order to address this conceptual challenge, the concept of atmospheres developed in this work is based on three theoretical modules that are derived from the paradigms of embodiment and enactivism. The synthesis of the modules allows for a conceptualization of the affection of bodily and mental states by the perception of environmental objects and situations, as is typical for atmospheres. In this way, atmospheres can be considered certain states of mind, alongside moods and emotions. It is shown that the atmospherical colouring of perception can be understood as the type of cognition for the arousal of implicit readiness to act and for potential future operations or body-environment relations. By showing that immersive realms are based on atmospheric cognition, media theory and sociology also gain new perspectives. With the upcoming age of immersion a new type of socialisation emerges that is based on atmospherically mediated intensities.

This study aimed to compare the recovery kinetics of physical performance and subjective ratings in response to a soccerspecific exercise simulation on natural grass and artificial turf. Physical performance tests and subjective ratings were assessed on 13 professional soccer players before, immediately after, 24 h and 48 h after the test. Physical performance tests included squat jump, countermovement jump, 6-s sprint on a non-motorised treadmill and isokinetic eccentric hamstring assessment (2.09 rad Á s 71 ). Hamstring peak torque decrement was higher (P 5 0.05) on natural grass than on artificial turf immediately (-4.0%, CI 95%: -10.0 to 2.0%, Effect Size [ES] ¼ 0.29), 24 h (-3.1%, CI 95%: -9.3 to 3.1%, ES ¼ 0.29) and 48 h (-3.8%, CI 95%: -8.5 to 0.9%, ES ¼ 0.43) after the test. Squat jump performance decrement was significantly lower (P 5 0.05) on natural grass than artificial turf 48 h after the test (þ3.7%, CI 95%: 1.1 to 6.3%, ES ¼ 0.40). Sprint performance showed no change from baseline performance for both trials throughout the protocol. No significant interaction between surface and time was found for countermovement jump and subjective ratings. These results suggest that a one-off exercise on artificial turf does not induce greater fatigue nor does it delay the recovery process when compared to natural grass among regular artificial turf players.