Elemental charm.

Total immersion in a virtual reality is not the ideal state for appreciating interactive art, like videogames. When the game world starts feeling natural and real, it begins to disappear. And nothing in it stands out any more. Or the simulation overwhelms. With the same result.

We are dealing with synthetic images here. And with multimedia. We don’t need to simulate reality. And we can immerse players in sound too.

We need to create sufficient space around the important elements, so that the player can recognize them and pay attention to them. These elements in turn will respond to the player. And a relationship between the two will grow.

This cannot happen when everything in the game demands equal amounts of attention. The important elements need to be isolated sufficiently so that they can charm the player. And become his partner, or a comfortably recognizable feature, in the exploration of the synthetic environment.