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those discussed earlier. Imaginative immersion
describes absorption in the narrative of a game
or identification with a character which is under-
stood to be synonymous with feelings of empathy
and atmosphere. However, atmosphere might be
an agglomeration of imaginative immersion and
sensory immersion (since certain sounds and
graphics might facilitate a compelling atmospheric
player experience): the use of this term raises
the need for a clearer definition of the concept
of atmosphere and this is not provided by Ermi
and Mäyrä (2005). If 'imaginative' refers mainly
to cognitive processes of association, creativity,
and memory recall, it is likely to be facilitated by
player affect. However, individual differences are
huge when it comes to pleasant imagination (this
is probably a matter of personal preference), which
would make it very difficult to accurately assess
this kind of immersion using empirical methodol-
ogy. The last SCI dimension, viz. challenge-based
immersion , conforms closely with one feature of
Csíkszentmihályi's (1990) description of flow.
This is the only type of immersion in this model
that suggests it might be progressive experience
because challenge level is never simply static but
is something that oscillates around the success and
failure of certain types of interaction over time. If
we assume now that immersion is linked to either
successful or failed interactions in a game that
are likely to strengthen or weaken the subjective
feeling of immersion, we can try to establish the
following relationship between game interactions
and immersions. Given a number of successful
interactions σ, a number of failed interactions φ,
and incremental playing time τ, then two descrip-
tions of the magnitude of immersion ι could be
considered:
These equations would suggest that the longer
people play with a higher success than failure rate,
the more immersed they would feel. If the failure
rate is higher than the success rate, the feeling of
immersion for players will decrease over time.
Many sonic interactions in games are implicitly
challenge-based because they require interpreta-
tion (or are understood from previous experience),
but an example of explicitly challenge-based
sonic interaction in games is given by Grimshaw
(2008a) in his description of the navigational
mode of listening (p. 32). It remains to be tested
whether such an equation could account for im-
mersion itself or whether this would only measure
one aspect of the immersive experience. Ideally,
such a ratio would be extended and combined
with psychophysiological variables that measure
a player's affective response over time.
Implications for Player-Game
Interaction and Affective sound
In the context of sound and immersion in computer
games, other work investigates the role of sound
in facilitating player immersion in the gameworld.
A strong link between “visual, kinaesthetic, and
auditory modalities” is hypothetically assumed
to be key to immersion (Laurel, 1991, p.161).
The degree of realism provided by sound cues
is also a primary facilitator for immersion, with
realistic audio samples being drivers of immersion
(Jørgensen, 2006) similar to employing spatial
sound (Murphy & Pitt, 2001) although some
authors, as noted by Grimshaw (2008b) argue for
an effect of immersion through perceptual real-
ism of sound (as opposed to a mimetic realism)
where verisimilitude, based on codes of realism,
proves as effective if not more efficacious than
emulation and authenticity of sound (see Farnell,
2011). Self-produced, autopoietic sounds of
players, and the immersive impact that sounds
have on the relationship between players and the
virtual environment a game is played in, have
been framed in discussions on acoustic ecolo-
          (1) For σ, φ > 0: If σ 
> φ, then ι = σ/φ × τ.
          (2) For σ, φ > 0: If σ 
≤ φ, then ι = σ/(φ × τ).
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