The dissertation considers immersiveness as a cultural phenomenon that combines various technologies and represents a multilevel semiotic system. Based on the analysis, the author proposes a definition of immersiveness, immersive cultural practices, and a typology of immersive cultural practices based on the degree of interaction of various factors within the discourse of contemporary artistic practices. In particular, in the context of modern cultural practices, immersiveness is considered a set of techniques of aesthetic impact on the viewer, which allows him to be involved in a multimedia or transmedia environment. The definition of immersive cultural practices is proposed as contemporary cultural practices that offer an immersive experience and use innovative technologies to achieve this result.
The cultural practices of metamodernism are characterized by new aesthetics, consisting in the atmosphere’s creation, the perception of which is directly related to the idea of the bodily and emotional experience of presence, the impact of the environment on all the senses. It has been found that immersiveness is central to the illusory-affective structure of contemporary culture – the culture of meta-modernism – and manifests itself in the creation of cultural practices based on immersion through a bodily and sensory response to various spaces, landscapes and environments in and outside of art. The growing need for immersiveness is connected to the general trend of cultural demassification and restructuring of cultural schemes. The purpose of immersiveness is to create a direct connection between an object, event, or action and its perception by a person for deep immersion in a cultural environment: theatre, cinema, exhibition, museum, excursion, entertainment, etc. Immersion is achieved by creating a complex of various sensations in a person who is in an artificially created world.
The key immersive technologies used in contemporary cultural practices are augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), mixed reality (MR), or hybrid reality (Hybrid Reality), extended reality (XR), 360-degree photo and video VR-180. The use of immersive technologies in cultural practices contributes to emotional disclosure; gaining new practical experience through immersion; changing human behaviour or thinking based on rethinking. The maximum effect of immersion in cultural practices is created through the following techniques: realism and duration of stay; isolation from the outside world; kinesthesia; interaction with the object world of the simulated environment; level of control over what is happening.
In the context of immersive practices’ research, immersive events are considered a dynamic category within several event typologies, including participatory theatre, interactive lunch parties, escape rooms (Quest rooms), and dress-up cinema. It has been found that the conceptual model of an immersive event involves the actual, territorial placement of the viewer/participant directly inside the artistic environment – cognitive immersion in the event environment, which is achieved as a result of the presence of three components: interaction, sensory experience and localization. The popularity of immersive cultural practices among the millennial generation is driven by aspects such as hedonism and new experiences. The main motivation for participating in immersive events is the desire to escape from reality, increase the level of socialization, have fun, and gain new impressions, feelings, and knowledge.
It is found that the process of establishing metamodernism in Ukrainian culture, which began after 2014, due to several objective and subjective factors (the tendency to oscillate between opposites and their harmonious combination, the active struggle for independence and self-sufficiency at the national level) is characterized by inversion oscillations between pre-modernity, modernity and postmodernity – between the denial of experience and nostalgia, between liberalism and authoritarianism, between traditional values and innovations, and between collectivism and individualism.
