FUTURE #3 - IMMERSIVE + INTERACTIVE FOUNDATIONS
AI, Entertainment at Home, and the Power of Immersive Experiences
In entertainment today, technology is reshaping what we watch, how we participate, and why we connect emotionally. From streaming algorithms to immersive theater, advances like real-time rendering engines, spatial audio, and AI-generated characters are promising deeper, more direct and personal engagement. Yet, despite AI’s impressive leaps, immersive and interactive experiences uniquely tap into something AI alone hasn’t fully grasped, authentic and shared emotional depth.
Let’s explore why that matters, through three key lenses:
1. At-Home Entertainment: AI's Strengths and Limits
AI-driven personalization, like Netflix recommendations or dynamic storytelling in video games, has transformed our living rooms into highly customized entertainment hubs. About 80% of content watched on Netflix is AI-recommended. Yet, sociological research suggests that experiences at home, however personalized, often feel less meaningful than shared, real-world interactions.
Working with Twitch on Behind the Screen, we experienced real-time story feedback and chat-based pivots with a top-ranked influencer, The Sushi Dragon. What stuck with me wasn’t the interactivity, it was the sudden flood of collective emotion during pivotal moments. People weren’t just watching. They were in it, together, with the star of the live feed. Convenience and access are powerful, but comfort can limit the emotional impact.
2. Live Entertainment: Tech as Amplifier
AI is enhancing live events, not replacing them. Concerts, sports arenas, and theme parks now employ AI to enrich audience experience: dynamic visuals responding in real time to crowd energy, AI-powered robots mingling naturally with guests (think Disney’s animatronic Baby Groot), and AR-driven interactive overlays at sports venues. Sphere residencies like U2, Dead & Company, Eagles, and immersive film experiences like The Wizard of Oz at Sphere use 360° visuals, spatial sound, and sensory staging to elevate the show, yet the emotional connection remains rooted in shared presence.
During our digital builds for the MTV Europe Music Awards, we embedded live chat layers, backstage feeds, and alternate-angle streams. But the most powerful engagement came when fans could trigger something, vote, comment, crash the stream with emojis, and see it take effect. AI can sync and program the lights, but humans bring the spark.
3. Immersive & Interactive Experiences: Unique Human Resonance
Experiences that immerse you fully, VR storytelling, interactive theater, experiential art installations, create emotional resonance precisely because they’re uniquely human. These formats lean into surprise, control, and context, where algorithmic storytelling often leans into optimization.
In one voting campaign for the Kids’ Choice Awards, we leaned into bright color, real-time feedback, and region-specific content to amplify the audience’s sense of participation. It wasn’t perfect, but kids didn’t care. They laughed, screamed, leaned in. It felt personal. That moment of ownership, that I was part of it feeling, is something AI still hasn’t cracked. While AI can help facilitate those mechanics, it is the human layer—empathy, surprise, joy—that gives interactive experiences their staying power.
Looking Forward
The real power lies in balancing AI’s capabilities with genuine human connection. According to PwC, AI in the media and entertainment sector is projected to exceed $99 billion globally by 2030. That scale underscores both the opportunity and the responsibility: to harness AI in service of meaning, not just optimization.
I’ve seen beautifully coded platforms fall flat and scrappy formats create emotional waves. It’s not about the polish. It’s about presence. If we can keep designing for the moment, the moment that people remember, we win.
Which area interests you most? I'd love to hear your thoughts or dive deeper, just let me know.
Next week: Data as a Creative Partner.