The Future Normal · Part 1
Immersive Entertainment
What if you could be part of entertainment instead of watching it passively?
What if you could be part of entertainment instead of watching it passively?
The Trend
Entertainment is shifting from something audiences watch to something they step inside. Full-body haptic suits, performances staged for an audience of one and digitally recreated performers are all collapsing the distance between spectator and story. In the future normal, calling these experiences entertainment will feel inadequate, because audiences will live inside the story rather than observe it from a seat.
The Instigator
In May 2022 the Swedish band returned to the stage without any of the four members appearing in person, performing instead as digital “ABBAtars” modeled on their 1970s selves and backed by live musicians. To avoid what Björn Ulvaeus called an old-fashioned circus trick, the band spent five weeks in a Stockholm studio surrounded by 3D cameras while Industrial Light & Magic captured every gesture and expression. Rolling Stone described the result as uncannily realistic.
Imagining The Future Normal
What if experiences involved all our senses?
Haptics (vibrations and tactile feedback) are already today’s normal in video game controllers and 4D cinemas. Moving forward, AI will make it easier for experience designers to integrate smell, temperature, and even taste simulators to create experiences that give you literal goosebumps.
Which stories will we immerse ourselves in?
As many experiences get bigger and more complex to deliver, many will lean on familiar IP franchises (from ABBA to Star Wars to Squid Game) to bring in audiences. When AI is employed to bring much-loved characters and stories to life and enables people to immerse themselves in their favorite narratives, these stories become even more transformative.
What if the immersion offered “collective awe”?
Virtual experiences could soon match, or even surpass, their real-life alternatives. Over the past few years, experiences that make people feel part of something bigger have thrived while overhyped headset devices have struggled to gain widespread adoption. The lesson? Technology might enable immersion, but human connection is what sustains it.
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