The Power of Immersive Entertainment | Brent Bushnell | TEDxLA

Immersive entertainment is a new medium that puts the "audience” in control of interactive, physical environments and digital, mixed realities. Guests can engage in simulated worlds and help direct the story arc. It is a radical evolution from other media forms -- literature, film, music. It innovates on video game design principles and has the capacity to tantalize senses not just of sight and sound, but also taste, touch and smell. It challenges audiences to be actor, director, and witness all at once. In this talk, Brent Bushnell, CEO & Roustabout of Two Bit Circus, takes you on a tour of some of the most innovative productions in this mind-blowing new space. Examples span escape rooms, immersive theater, virtual reality, augmented reality, mixed reality and more.
rent Bushnell is the CEO of Two Bit Circus, a Los Angeles-based experiential entertainment company building products and events that combine story and technology. Most recently the team launched STEAM Carnival, a showcase of high-tech entertainment and workshops to inspire invention. They also built a 360 video production pipeline and deployed Virtual Reality content with haptic feedback for live events with clients including NFL, NBA, Indy, Olympics, Sundance and more. The company regularly serves as immersive entertainment partners for brands and location-based facilities. Previously, Brent was the on-camera inventor for the ABC TV show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. He was a founding member of Syyn Labs, a creative collective creating stunts for brands like Google and Disney and responsible for the viral hit Rube Goldberg music video for OK Go which garnered 45 million views. He publishes on Twitter at @brentbushnell.
This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at ted.com/tedx

[@drtacks37]

Brent is 100% correct on the future of this style of performance. Especially coming out of the pandemic we saw a huge increase in demand for interactive experiences. Haunted attractions (houses) are also a style immersive theater. Haunts saw massive attendance boosts in 2020-2022 as people were more interested in interactive, rather than passive, experiences.

[@jbach]

Brilliant talk and speaker. If you're not a fan of VR now you will be after watching this.

[@Missy-Leigh]

I’m interested in the therapeutic applications of immersive experience. It makes me so deep down excited.

[@maloryvictoria9561]

This sounds awesome. I'm glad he's thinking deeper into it, about how it could change our reality by changing our understanding of each other.

[@kyecaven]

If you like that idea you should go find some of Vince Kadlubek's talks on youtube. A lot of amazing stuff about how by building worlds that are different from what we thought they would be we allow people to be different than they think they are.

[@empiricalman]

I just started doing a new immersive production called NIGHTFALL at Old Tucson. This company will continue to explore new shows including a YULETIDE production for the holidays. Im excited 😮

[@saw_studios]

Great talk... thank you!

[@shebawilliams]

Fascinating...

[@jessicarox85]

aquarius age of knowledge and equality..

[@TJGBAU5]

wow

[@hugoblack4133]

Neither Russia or China invented the Escape Room or even the Escape Game. What an embarrassing obsequious display of ignorance from a 'CEO.'