Culture

Reshaping Cultural and Tourism Spaces from Visual Wonders to Narrative Driven Immersive Experiences

2025-06-26   

Wearing VR glasses, after reading the rule introduction, my eyes darkened and my real self and world seemed to disappear. When my eyes lit up again, I was already in another world. Outside of VR glasses, from a god's-eye perspective, a group of people are strolling cautiously in an open space, sometimes bowing and walking, sometimes looking around, and sometimes spinning in place, doing strange movements like sleepwalking... This is a popular immersive experience nowadays, and this new form is reshaping cultural and tourism spaces. The so-called immersive experience refers to the immersion of bodily senses into space - directly connecting with the environment through sight, hearing, touch; Once again, the soul is immersed in the plot and enters a highly focused state of 'flow'. Pure sensory stimulation cannot constitute a complete immersive experience, requiring narrative logic and emotional guidance to integrate scattered perceptions into an organic whole. On the one hand, it enhances the embodied perception present, such as the real sense of weightlessness and fear of heights brought by elevator elevators and spacecraft takeoffs; On the other hand, using plot tension to pull emotions, making the audience become characters in the context and a part of the story. Currently, immersive experiences such as "The Vanished Pharaoh," "The Eternal Notre Dame Cathedral," and "The Adventures of Sanxingdui" rely heavily on technology such as VR (virtual reality) and AR (augmented reality) to create visual wonders and audio-visual interactions. In fact, at its inception, immersive experiences did not rely on technologies such as VR and AR. In 1955, Walt Disney pioneered a panoramic amusement park that allowed visitors to become the main characters on the screen. Bringing tourists into the fairy tale castle, every step feels like walking through a movie scene. The phrase 'Leaving today, entering the land of fantasy, traveling through the past and future' expresses the core of immersive experience - achieving psychological 'time and space travel' through scene design. Entering the 21st century, although digital technology and perception engineering continue to innovate, various methods still adhere to the basic paradigm of "narrative immersion+scene creation". In 2016, the Alton Tower theme park in the UK added VR helmets for the first time on the Star Wars roller coaster, allowing visitors to become "interstellar pilots" and experience immersive space battles. After putting on their helmets, tourists seem to suddenly jump into the interstellar battlefield. As the cabin dives and rolls, the real sound effects and vibration feedback make passengers feel like they have experienced laser scanning and superluminal jumps. At this point, "text" and "space" are integrated through narrative, expanding the breadth of sensory outreach and the depth of immersive experience. In recent years, technological innovation, policy dividends, and industrial transformation have jointly driven the explosive growth of immersive experiences. Taking the immersive art exhibition "Entering Van Gogh" as an example, mature 3D mapping technology (also known as 3D projection technology) creates an immersive atmosphere surrounded by paintings and filled with fragrance in the wall projection room. The "starry sky" slowly flows, and the fragrance of lemon and cypress trees spreads through the air. Smell, hearing, and vision work together, and the audience seems to be immersed in Van Gogh's soul canvas. This type of immersive space has achieved significant results in multi sensory stimulation. At present, the main force of tourism consumption, represented by the post-90s and post-00s generations, desires to interact in real-time with light, sound, installations, and even live actors in touchable and tangible offline fields. The reason why immersive experiences are attractive is precisely because of the visual wonders they create, the ideal identities they shape, and the local reshaping they carry out. In immersive cultural and tourism spaces, "visual wonders" are the first entry point that captures the audience's senses. In the project 'The Vanished Pharaoh', the moment the VR device is worn, the audience is transported back to ancient Egypt thousands of years ago, with a narrow stone passage extending beneath their feet. The guide leads the audience to lower their heads and turn sideways, delving deep into the interior of the pyramid. In Universal Studios, Osaka, Japan, the project of "Harry Potter and Taboo Tour" combines 180 degree ball screen projection with physical indoor space, supplemented by temperature and tactile design, blurring the boundary between the virtual and the real. The 'dragon' roared out of the darkness, accompanied by real flames and wind, as if even the air had been ignited for a moment, and the whole world was trembling. This kind of audio-visual and somatosensory resonance truly satisfies the expectation of being fully immersed in the world. In such projects, the balance between enhancing immersion and suppressing discomfort is the key to design. For example, to ensure that the audience can freely experience the virtual world while standing and walking, the spatial gravity direction is usually consistent with the real environment to avoid panic or safety risks caused by visual and tactile differences. When the audience wears VR glasses and enters the first scene, they often use initial images similar to the real world to provide sufficient adaptation time. The core driving force of immersive experience lies in narrative - it transforms the audience from a 'spectator' to a 'participant', giving them an 'ideal identity'. Viewers can take on the roles of archaeological explorers or palace emissaries. They do not simply "dress up" a character out of thin air, but gradually identify with the self entrusted with a mission as they unlock clues and drive the plot forward. The immersive drama of "Sleepless Night" in Shanghai completely breaks the binary boundary of "stage audience" and maximizes the audience's immersion in their "ideal identity". At the McKinnon Hotel in the 1930s, audiences wearing white masks could freely shuttle between over 90 rooms, or follow a character up close to watch key scenes, or be pulled into a "1v1" exclusive plot without prior notice to obtain exclusive clues. The plot repeats three times within three hours, presenting only partial clues each time. The audience needs to rely on their choices and "luck" to piece together the complete story. Here, the audience is a carefully authorized "actor", and the masks they wear and the clues they obtain are symbolic media that endow them with an "ideal identity", guiding the audience from "watching others" to "performing themselves". Drawing on the multi-threaded narrative mode of 'Sleepless Nights', if the LBE (Location Based Entertainment Space) project can integrate a multi linear story architecture with artificial intelligence role-playing, it will undoubtedly break through the limitations of the field, allowing the audience to become a true narrative co creator with autonomous decision-making power and a more authentic and fulfilling' ideal identity '. Currently, many immersive projects are often "parachuted" into a certain place, lacking organic integration with the local landscape and often difficult to sustain, mainly due to the neglect of "local reshaping". Some emerging projects not only fail to attract tourists, but may also be repulsive due to disrupting the original landscape order. In the 798 Art District of Beijing, the "Shanhai Space" project utilizes the 798 outdoor block and combines modern technology to create a cyberpunk ancient mythology block. Tourists wearing MR devices walk out of the store and onto the streets, where strange beasts from the "Classic of Mountains and Seas" come rushing towards them... The audience can see both the original appearance of the block and the gods, demons, and monsters wandering around. The attraction of the project lies in the mutual support between "virtual" and "real" in the experiential context. On the one hand, the existing red walls, factories, and other facilities in the 798 Art District ensure the authenticity of the experiential field; On the other hand, the injection of mythological symbols such as "N ü wa mending the sky" and "the pursuit of exotic beasts" provides viewers with an experience that is "detached from daily life". The addition of MR (Mixed Reality) makes physical space no longer a passive container, but a carrier and clue network for narrative, enabling virtual and real to coexist synchronously in walking paths and emotional contact. The case study based on real space and local culture shows that the charm of immersive experience not only comes from advanced technology, but also lies in the delicate reproduction of local texture through artistic techniques. When the audience is truly awakened in ancient towns, scenic spots, mountains, forests, and rural areas, virtual elements become an extension of reality. Looking ahead to the future, immersive experiences still need to focus on "narrative driven+multi sensory resonance". Through multi-threaded plot design, allow the audience to construct new narratives in each exploration; Introducing multidimensional feedback such as temperature, touch, and odor to allow role-playing to transcend visual boundaries; In the underground theater, the seamless integration of digital and real-life elements is becoming increasingly important. Immersive experiences should deeply cultivate regional characteristics, combine real scenes with technological narratives, retain cultural depth, and enhance on-site experiences. Only in this way can immersive experiences leave lasting emotional echoes in the hearts of audiences. (New Society)

Edit:Momo Responsible editor:Chen zhaozhao

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