Non-VR/AR Immersive Environments or Experience Blog

Changes to physical presence, surrounding atmosphere, and adaptation to a “new” environment are probably the most thought of experiences of immersion that are non-VR. While rides with NPCs, roleplaying, and experiencing new digital atmospheres may be the standard of non-VR/AR experiences, I think that a key immersive experience taken on by individuals in society would be hallucinogens/psychedelics which alter our perspective of reality. While I haven’t taken any hallucinogens, I’ve read and watched many documentaries and shows that show first-person perspectives of how this works. The key hallucinogen that I will focus on which has a rich history in productivity in many industries is LSD, standing for Lysergic Acid Diethylamide.

This drug is known for causing people to view the world in different ways where there may be additional colors, imagery, actions, and etc. When people intake this drug, they essentially go on what is known as a “trip” which is their experience of hallucinations, altered feelings, and awareness in a drugged state. These can be “good” or “bad” trips but some memories of past hallucinations may stick with people for years which would alter their physical perception and awareness, often being consumed by the memory. Some famous bands such as the Beatles have taken LSD for music production where songs such as “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” alludes to LSD usage. 

Referring back to the definition of immersion being : the state of consciousness where an immersant’s awareness of physical self is diminished or lost by being surrounded in an engrossing total environment, it can be understood that when this drug is consumed and the effects take into place, the immersant loses their awareness of reality and experiences an alternate reality that is surreal and created by the mind. Their previous physical environment is thus engrossed by a new surreal total environment that may continually alter itself based on the hallucinations of the individual. In the most purest sense, this could be VR/AR without the headset or controls as reality has been altered to be surreal.