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PREDICTION: Immersive sound and vision will be prominent in our live entertainment experiences. (Trent's Word of the day: Immersive)

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We go to a movie. We sit; inhale popcorn, loosely follow the storyline, tune out every now and then. Stare at phones, think about toilet breaks and let our brains get distracted even whilst we are 'into' the movie.

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We go to a concert. We dance; we drink, we follow the flow of track selection, sing out of tune every now and then, get 'into' the songs we know. Send snapstories- more often to prove our status to show we are doing the 'it' thing – we then again lose focus from the performance by thinking about our next toilet break, drink, post or where our mates went.

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Going to events are fun, but all-too-often in modern day society we get too lost in capturing a moment rather than enjoying it or fully-immersing ourselves in the experience. 

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Technologies that have been in development for decades are beginning to come to the attention of mainstream audiences through niche performances and state-of-the-art festivals.

 

Live Binaural audio, Holographic visuals and Immersive Dome experiences are putting 3D goggles to shame, making you want to send your clunky old 3D glasses (from 2014) and that 5.1 Surround sound system to the back corner of your shed in the same box as your walkman, VCR and Super Nintendo (okay, maybe there's still a place for that in the lounge room).

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The immersive live performance gets you to really experience. No longer are you just at a show or event, but these technologies eliminate the distraction of the surroundings and connect with you deeper in your consciousness and thus with the performances.

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Simon McBurney's one-man stage show 'The Encounter', Iboga Records' 3D Hologram (no glasses necessary) and Android Jones' Immersive Dome Experience are each examples of immersive entertainment I've been lucky enough to experience in just the past nine months. 

The Encounter has been in the making since the 80's, was featured on Broadway and more recently at The Malthouse Theatre in Melbourne.

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 Based on the book ‘Amazon Beaming’ by Petro Popescu, the show’s re-telling of a National Geographic photographer (Loren McIntyre played by Richard Katz on the current tour) dropped deep into the Amazonian rainforest in the 1960's in search of a tribe described only as 'catpeople'.

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Upon entering the theatre you can't help but notice that smack bang in the middle of the stage is a dummy head on a stick sitting about 6-foot high (known to the cast as ‘Fritz’). Utilising audio-visual illusions such as the McGurk effect, this is binaural audio at its finest. Microphones are placed around the dummy head, specifically in certain portions of the ears so as soon as you take your seat and put on your headphones you notice that is not just any ordinary surround sound experience.

 

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Simon McBurney with dummyhead “Fritz” during The Encounter

Source: http://4columns.org/img/column/Shaw_Encounter_2.jpg

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From the commencement of the show when Katz runs screaming behind the dummy, you turn your head expecting to see him as it feels as if he is literally in the row behind you running from left to right. With the buzzes of mosquitoes in the depths of the rainforest, to the gentle whispers in 'your' ear that tingles through your spine, you're immediately engaged and the intimacy of the audio through the headphones makes this very hard to escape or get distracted through the performance.

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Immersive Visual art will have you encaptured in similar ways. In 2016, Rainbow Serpent Festival in Victoria featured a live 3D Hologram on the main stage that did not require glasses (but for some in the audience was perhaps enhanced by the right amount of substances). 

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Like a moving painting coming out of the speakers this consisted of a screen behind the DJ and a mesh in front, with an image projected on the mesh which when combined with the LED screen created a mental 3D effect. This was best experienced from directly in front but still effective from up to about 75 degrees either side of center (from my experience). This was also featured at Boom Festival during the Iboga Records 20th Anniversary 8-hour celebration set, and then went around the world on the Iboga tour.

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Going forward I expect this to be implemented into the every-day movie going experience, and further more into home cinema and blu-ray. No doubt will it be creatively implemented into live comedy performances, sporting events (to give a 'courtside' feel to those in the upper decks), Virtual Reality gaming (this is whole 'nutha story) and no doubt the porn industry (a reason to hope smellivision isn't coming anytime soon).

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Also at Boom was the Immersive Dome Experience as created by artist Android Jones.

Whilst laying flat on the floor, facing up looking to the inner-roof of the dome, art would come to life and you would experience feelings of deeper consciousness and even interstellar travel as the projection on to the shape of the dome covers your full peripherals, again eliminating distraction and taking your mind deep into the experience.

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I expect this to initially be more utilized into art galleries and live exhibitions, but will also no doubt make its way into gaming and even VR without the necessity of having on a clunky headset.

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Whilst each fascinating experiences in their own special ways, there will still always be a place for the current and more traditional live experience.

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I do not expect these to be implemented into the everyday live concert, for example, anytime soon- but for stage shows, movies and gaming where majority of the time we are not interacting with those either side of us, Immersive Sound and Vision is going to immaculately impact our im-person imperiences.