{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,13]],"date-time":"2026-10-13T11:45:52Z","timestamp":1791891952613,"version":"4.3.4"},"reference-count":33,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,29]],"date-time":"2025-08-29T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1756425600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Psychol."],"abstract":"<jats:p>This article introduces the pattern theory of immersivity (PTI), a practice-led theoretical framework stemming from the hypothesis that a reorientation of the understanding of immersive art is needed, away from technological sophistication or sensory excess and toward the psychological mechanisms underlying imaginative engagement, regardless of artform or combination of media. The theory posits that immersivity\u2014the capacity of an artwork to induce immersion\u2014is primarily a function of patterned information structures that stimulate aspects of superior pattern processing (SPP). Immersion is reconceptualised as a process of cognitive filling-in, in which motifs that remain partially concealed elicit fantasies. A distinction is made between immersive perception and immersive performance, each articulated across three graduated levels, culminating in a peak immersive state. This pan-artistic model, formalised as the ORFEUS model, offers artists a tentative tool for designing and analysing the prerequisites for immersive experiences through strategic use of fragmentation, ambiguity, and indirect information. The theory underscores that immersivity is seldom a property of entire artworks, but rather a quality embedded in specific elements that provoke psychological engagement. Ultimately, PTI provides a refined vocabulary and a methodological approach for immersive artmaking in all media; one that integrates artistic know-how with knowledge about the deep structures of human cognition.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2025.1670384","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,29]],"date-time":"2025-08-29T05:45:37Z","timestamp":1756446337000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Patterns as basis for immersivity across the arts: a practice-led hypothesis"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"16","author":[{"given":"Hedvig","family":"Jalhed","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,29]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"429","DOI":"10.1089\/cyber.2009.0164","article-title":"Virtual reality induces dissociation and lowers sense of presence in objective reality","volume":"13","author":"Aardema","year":"2010","journal-title":"Cyberpsychol. Behav. Soc. Netw."},{"key":"ref2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"404","DOI":"10.17743\/jaes.2020.0039","article-title":"Defining immersion: literature review and implications for research on immersive audiovisual experiences","volume":"68","author":"Agrawal","year":"2020","journal-title":"J. Audio Eng. Soc."},{"key":"ref3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1057\/978-1-137-48044-6","volume-title":"Beyond immersive theatre: Aesthetics, politics and productive participation","author":"Alston","year":"2016"},{"key":"ref4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"569","DOI":"10.1215\/03335372-7032760","article-title":"Immersion and defamiliarization: experiencing literature and world","volume":"39","author":"Anderson","year":"2018","journal-title":"Poetics Today"},{"key":"ref5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.7551\/mitpress\/8429.001.0001","volume-title":"In-game: From immersion to incorporation","author":"Calleja","year":"2011"},{"key":"ref6","volume-title":"Computer games: Text, narrative and play","author":"Carr","year":"2006"},{"key":"ref7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"279","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1745-8315.2008.00019.x","article-title":"Immersion versus interactivity and analytic field","volume":"89","author":"Civitarese","year":"2017","journal-title":"Int. J. Psychoanal."},{"key":"ref8","volume-title":"Flow: The psychology of optimal experience","author":"Csikszentmihalyi","year":"1990"},{"key":"ref9","volume-title":"Pattern theory: Memory, interpretation, understanding, meaning","author":"Ellaway","year":"2025"},{"key":"ref10","volume-title":"Visual art: From illusion to immersion","author":"Grau","year":"2003"},{"key":"ref11","volume-title":"An operatic game-changer: The opera maker as game designer and the potentials of ludo-immersive opera","author":"Jalhed","year":"2022"},{"key":"ref12","article-title":"Is game immersion just another form of selective attention? An empirical investigation of real world dissociation in computer game immersion","author":"Jennett","year":"2010"},{"key":"ref13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3407","DOI":"10.1145\/1520340.1520494","article-title":"Investigating computer game immersion and the component real world dissociation","volume-title":"CHI \u201809 extended abstracts on human factors in computing systems","author":"Jennett","year":"2009"},{"key":"ref14","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"641","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ijhcs.2008.04.004","article-title":"Measuring and defining the experience of immersion in games","volume":"66","author":"Jennett","year":"2008","journal-title":"Int J Human Computer Studies"},{"key":"ref15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"133","DOI":"10.1163\/9781848882959_013","article-title":"Immersion vs. Emersive effects in videogames","volume-title":"Engaging with videogames: Play, theory and practice","author":"Kubinski","year":"2014"},{"key":"ref16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1007\/978-3-319-16999-6_3011-1","article-title":"Agency-detection","volume-title":"Encyclopedia of evolutionary psychological science","author":"K\u00fchnen","year":"2020"},{"key":"ref17","first-page":"81","article-title":"The psychology of immersion: individual differences and psychosocial phenomena relating to immersion","volume-title":"The cutting edge of Nordic Larp","author":"Lukka","year":"2014"},{"key":"ref18","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3389\/fnins.2024.1459550","article-title":"I like the way you move: how animate motion affects visual attention in early human infancy","volume":"18","author":"Lunghi","year":"2024","journal-title":"Front. Neurosci."},{"key":"ref19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1007\/978-1-137-01985-1","volume-title":"Immersive theatres: Intimacy and immediacy in contemporary performance","author":"Machon","year":"2013"},{"key":"ref20","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3389\/fnins.2014.00265","article-title":"Superior pattern processing is the essence of the evolved human brain","volume":"8","author":"Mattson","year":"2014","journal-title":"Front. Neurosci."},{"key":"ref21","volume-title":"Rhetorics of fantasy","author":"Mendlesohn","year":"2008"},{"key":"ref22","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"9","DOI":"10.1093\/schbul\/sbp144","article-title":"Klaus Conrad (1905\u20131961): delusional mood, psychosis, and beginning schizophrenia","volume":"4","author":"Mishara","year":"2009","journal-title":"Schizophr. Bull."},{"key":"ref23","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"16598","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.0703913104","article-title":"Category-specific attention for animals reflects ancestral priorities, not expertise","volume":"104","author":"New","year":"2007","journal-title":"Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA"},{"key":"ref24","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"466","DOI":"10.1037\/0096-3445.130.3.466","article-title":"Emotion drives attention: detecting the snake in the grass","volume":"130","author":"\u00d6hman","year":"2001","journal-title":"J. Exp. Psychol."},{"key":"ref25","article-title":"Towards techno-psychological immersion: a narrative literature review of immersion and its related concepts","volume-title":"In","author":"Paananen","year":"2024"},{"key":"ref26","volume-title":"Narrative as virtual reality: Immersion and interactivity in literature and electronic media","author":"Ryan","year":"2001"},{"key":"ref27","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"497","DOI":"10.5840\/jphil2013110914","article-title":"Belief and desire in imagination and immersion","volume":"110","author":"Schellenberg","year":"2013","journal-title":"J. Philos."},{"key":"ref28","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"48","DOI":"10.1038\/scientificamerican1208-48","article-title":"Patternicity","volume":"299","author":"Shermer","year":"2008","journal-title":"Sci. Am."},{"key":"ref29","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"357","DOI":"10.1093\/aesthj\/ayp030","article-title":"Fantasy, imagination, and film","volume":"49","author":"Stock","year":"2009","journal-title":"Br. J. Aesthetics"},{"key":"ref30","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"142","DOI":"10.1016\/j.chb.2014.05.040","article-title":"The effects of dissociation, game controllers, and 3D versus 2D on presence and enjoyment","volume":"38","author":"Williams","year":"2014","journal-title":"Comput. Hum. Behav."},{"key":"ref31","first-page":"204","article-title":"Beyond immersion: Absorption, saturation, and overflow in the building of imaginary worlds","volume-title":"World building","author":"Wolf","year":"2017"},{"key":"ref32","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2022.951161","article-title":"Wrapped into sound: development of the immersive music experience inventory (IMEI)","volume":"13","author":"Wycisk","year":"2022","journal-title":"Front. Psychol."},{"key":"ref33","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"105043","DOI":"10.1016\/j.bandl.2021.105043","article-title":"Language immersion and language training: two paths to enhanced language regulation and cognitive control","volume":"223","author":"Zhang","year":"2021","journal-title":"Brain Lang."}],"container-title":["Frontiers in Psychology"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fpsyg.2025.1670384\/full","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,29]],"date-time":"2025-08-29T05:45:40Z","timestamp":1756446340000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fpsyg.2025.1670384\/full"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,29]]},"references-count":33,"alternative-id":["10.3389\/fpsyg.2025.1670384"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/fpsyg.2025.1670384","relation":{},"ISSN":["1664-1078"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1664-1078","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,29]]},"article-number":"1670384"}}