At the start of 2019, AMT Lab sought a website redesign to improve the user experience of their platform. Emily Halpern describes her process and the importance of website design as it relates to cultural institutions.
entertainment, Arts & Technology
In Part 1, our research team examined the history immersive entertainment industry in the United States, and current challenges facing immersive experience creators. Part II dives into the results of our online survey and findings based on interviews with industry experts. To gain insights into the audience perspective, an online survey was launched on January 17, 2026, examining overall engagement with immersive entertainment. The survey revealed a thematic overlap between immersive audiences and traditional entertainment preferences. Ultimately, a “one-model-fits-all” approach to immersive entertainment would be limiting, and our research supports the need for a fourth model called the Immersive Plaza.
Arts & Culture, Audience Engagement
There has been a growing trend of large, spectacular straight play productions based on popular intellectual property. IP-based theatre is a way for corporations to super-serve fans in a way that keeps them coming back to the original material. IP-based theatre productions, like Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Stranger Things: The First Shadow, and The Hunger Games: On Stage, use spectacle to encourage fans to buy tickets.
entertainment, Arts & Technology
The immersive entertainment industry is rapidly expanding, with a projected market growth from $133.6 billion in 2024 to $473.9 billion by 2030. Through research conducted on behalf of Gensler, the largest global design and architecture firm, this study investigates the problems persisting in the immersive entertainment industry, namely the lack of consensus regarding model distinctions, undefined success metrics, and unclear pathways for scaling projects.
Artificial Intelligence, News & Announcements
In this month’s Byte-Sized Culture, lead researcher Julia Srnec examines artificial intelligence (A.I.), and how it is gaining traction in the arts. Legislation, funding for arts and technology research, and ethical museum-centric practices pave a future for how artists and organizations will navigate these significant changes to the industry.
Arts & Culture, Audience Engagement, Emerging Technology, entertainment, Multi-Media
In an earlier article, we explored how live music concerts are evolving beyond mere performances into expansive, immersive storyworlds, using Silence Wang’s One Hundred Thousand Volts tour and its fictional setting of “Romance City” as a pioneering case study. By adapting world-building frameworks traditionally found in film, literature, and gaming—specifically the core principles of invention, completeness, and consistency—Wang transformed his stage into a dynamic socio-ecological system where the audience's emotional participation actively powered the narrative environment. Building upon this foundation of visual and spatial storytelling, this article will delve into the auditory and transmedia expansions of Romance City, examining the strategic role of sound and musical arrangement, the development of one of the world's first XR interactive concert films, and the unique integration of a "Concert Artbook" to deepen audience immersion and IP expansion.
