a Brief Overview of Experiential Entertainment
Funworld photo from IAAPA. No endorsement implied.
It encompasses a lot, but you're probably familiar with most of it.
The lack of common language can also make it difficult to communicate to prospective guests what you're offering. You may have an outstanding, highly rated attraction...but if you can't communicate what to expect clearly, it's hard to keep your doors open.
I have defined, to the best of my ability, experiential terms .The definitions are related to what I've heard used most often by industry professionals. At least it gives us a starting point to talk about how we foster and support this economy. I will make updates, additions and clarifications as they are submitted.
This is literally the fist step in becoming a creative hub in this space, holding on the projects we currently have and attracting innovation.
I've outlined the difference between experiential and immersive below.
You can find a link to the full glossary HERE and also in the footer.
Museums
Water Parks
Interactive Concerts
Arcades
2.5D Plays
LARP
Escape Rooms
3D Sound Scapes
Scare Attractions
- Haunts
- Hayrides
- Temporary Overlays
- Trails
- Mazes
- Escape Rooms
(Themed)
Examples of Experiential
Entertainment
Theme Parks
ARGs
Projection Installations
Micro Attractions
Interactive Theater
Cinematic Domes
Historical Site Overlays
Audience Participation
XR is Extended Reality, and covers all the other categories.
- VR (Virtual Reality)
- AR (Augmented Reality)
- MR (Mixed Reality)
- IR (Intereality)
- Location Based AR
The Experiential Economy is not something new and untested. It covers categories you've probably heard of like theme parks, escape rooms, haunted houses... and it's a huge component of advertising / marketing / public relations, conventions /trade shows, and dining.
However, the growing demand for in person and group entertainment experiences has pushed those industries together to create a joint economy that shares a similar consumer base.
In fact, the industry is currently growing at such a pace, words are being used interchangeably, and it can become confusing.
A lack of common language makes it difficult for industry members to even collaborate, since they may be using the same wording, but discussing two different things entirely.
Watching Rocky Horror isn't experiential. Audience participation makes it experiential. This has been happening since 1976.
Immersive/Immersion: Sometime Immersive and Experiential are used interchangeably. It's easiest to think of immersive as under the experiential umbrella.
An immersive space involves creating the illusion of being someplace other than your current location. This can be achieved via VR headsets, projection mapping overlays, scent and soundscapes, visual and animation elements, sensory and haptic feedback, lighting, temperature, props and set pieces, actors, visual effects / optical illusions and architecture. It usually involves elements of visual storytelling as part of the total setting.
*NOTE: This term can be VERY confusing. XR companies previously only used the term immersive when referring to XR programming. The advertising industry has also started using immersive as a buzz word to define products such as home goods, clothing, and other non-industry related items (diluting the meaning and messaging to consumers). Now, more XR companies are using the term experiential instead.
Experiential
Immersive
All Immersive installations are experiential
Not all Experiential spaces are immersive
Experiential: refers to an entertainment, marketing, dining or educational activity that includes a component that is themed, multisensory or participatory. (i.e. It is something you experience, not just observe or listen to passively.)
It usually contains components from traditional entertainment forms including live action, animation, music, traditional fabrication, costuming, live performance / fight choreography, motion graphics, static images and more.
Example: The Rocky Horror Picture Show is a movie. Most movies are consumed passively either in a traditional theater or on a tv/device. However, midnight matiness include audience participation, which makes those showings experiential.
Expect even more when it comes to Sphere next year!
Experiential & Entertainment
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