Response to "Intermedia Stages of Virtual Reality in the Twentieth Century: Art as Inspiration of Evolving Media" by Oliver Grau

     In Intermedia Stages of Virtual Reality in the Twentieth Century: Art as Inspiration of Evolving Media, Oliver Grau talks about immersing the audience into a piece of art. He mentions several different techniques used by artists, such as Monet, that were used to try to immerse the audience. For example, Monet tried to immerse his audience by creating a 360 degree panoramic painting. The effect would leave any viewer of the painting feeling surrounded by his works, and thus feeling more immersed in the painting. Grau also talks about immersion in cinema. One of the most well known examples of immersion in cinema is the use of IMAX theatres. IMAX theatres use screens so large that they fill a viewers entire vision. This view, coupled with sound directed at the viewer from all sides helps to immerse the viewer into any film they are experiencing. Even in modern cinema, theatres are trying to find new and innovative ways of immersing the audience members into movies, with the most recent attempt being 3D films. Films shown in 3D help to bring the characters off screen, and thus add to the sense of illusion that the audience is actually in the movie, instead of a theatre. As technology continues to advance, newer and more refined ways of immersing audiences into art and cinema will emerge, until eventually we are unable what is real and what is fake apart.