“Immersive” is an unavoidable buzzword in contemporary sci-fi/fantasy media. We routinely see this term in the conversation around blockbuster movies like Avatar and Dune, referring to their synthesis of clever design and expensive visual effects. Their key achievement is creating a world so real we briefly forget it’s a work of fiction. Yet when I think back over the past few years of science fiction, the most impressive example of visual worldbuilding has nothing to do with realism or big-budget VFX.
