Understanding Immersion in the Context of Films with Spatial Audio

As spatial audio technologies become more prevalent, more individuals are being exposed to film content via a traditional visual monitor, delivered in a way which makes them feel as though the film’s soundtrack is emanating from all around them. In describing such experiences, the term immersion has become a buzzword both in academia and elsewhere. Through a review of relevant literature and qualitative analysis of descriptions of film immersion from a survey, an understanding of this ill-defined term is developed and the influence of spatial audio on film immersion is discussed. This work leads to a series of suggestions for future studies in this domain, notably highlighting the need for the assessment of the perception of auditory immersion and support for the use of physiological methods for assessing a subject’s absorption in the film world.