HYPOTHESIS AND THEORY article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1670384
Patterns as basis for immersivity across the arts: A practice-led hypothesis
Provisionally accepted- 1Mälardalen University, Västerås, Sweden
- 2Lunds Universitet, Lund, Sweden
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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-the capacity of an artwork to induce immersion-is 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.
Keywords: immersivity, Immersion, Emersion, Arts, Cognition, pattern processing
Received: 22 Jul 2025; Accepted: 05 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Jalhed. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Hedvig Jalhed, Mälardalen University, Västerås, Sweden
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