Module description
The immersive sector is a rapidly expanding area of both the UK and the global creative economy and the impact of this technological innovation is evidenced across a broad range of industries: screen, manufacturing, engineering, tourism, retail, healthcare, arts and cultural heritage. In fact, there are very few industries that are not currently affected by these innovations in immersive media.
Drawing on theories and debates in media and communication studies, cultural studies, and media industry studies, this module interrogates both industry and audience perspectives on a wide range of digital (VR, AR, MR) and non-digital (immersive theatre, pervasive gaming) immersive media. Exploring the key concepts, histories, theories and methodological practices surrounding these emerging practices, the module will enable students to engage critically and reflexively with the ways in which immersive media is produced and consumed.
From an industry perspective, we will explore the new collaborative working practices that have developed around immersive and extended reality production, to better understand the practical conditions that inform the production of the experiences that eventually reach global audiences, including issues of diversity and inclusivity in the sector. We will consider the roles across a wide spectrum of stakeholders ranging from large technology companies and media conglomerates to creative small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to individual immersive artists, practitioners and entrepreneurs.
From an audience perspective, we will investigate the nature and impact of the new forms of communication, representation and storytelling enabled by immersive media experiences. Immersive media can provide a sense of liveness and co-presence that often elicits powerful feelings from audience members, and so the module will also pay particular attention to the empathetic and ethical implications of immersive media forms.
Educational aims & objectives
- To develop students’ capacity to analyse, critique and participate in debates concerning the immersive media and extended realities industries through theory and key concepts;
- To foster a critical awareness of, and reflective responses to, the contemporary experience economy;
- To enable students to gain a critical awareness of the changing nature of media production and consumption and the impact of societal, technological, cultural, political and economic factors at play in the digital economy.