Why ‘Embodiment’ Takes Precedence Over ‘Immersion’

Welcome back to our Inside XR Design series, where we dive into remarkable examples of XR design. Today, we’re exploring Synapse, a standout title exclusive to PSVR 2 by nDreams, and examining the fascinating concept of embodiment in VR gaming.

You’ve probably heard the buzzword “embodiment” being tossed around, and you might be wondering why I’m focusing on it instead of diving straight into the game’s thrilling action and design elements. Well, stick with me for a moment — understanding embodiment will illuminate why Synapse shines in the VR space.

Embodiment describes the sensation of actually being present in a VR environment, as if you’re truly standing within the digital world wrapped around you. Now, you might think, “Isn’t that what we refer to as immersion?” Let’s clarify this common misconception.

Immersion is indeed popularized as being fully absorbed in an experience, like when a movie grabs your attention to the point where the theater seems to fade away. However, even the most captivating film doesn’t make you feel like you’ve physically stepped through the screen. That’s where embodiment plays a crucial role. Immersion is about capturing your focus, while embodiment involves your physical presence and interaction with the digital surroundings.

VR games inherently achieve immersion since the moment you don the headset, they predominantly capture your sight and sound. However, the true mark of extraordinary VR games is their ability to transcend this baseline to encompass a full-body presence — the feeling that if you reached out, you could touch the world before you.

Understanding that difference sets the stage for a deeper dive into Synapse.

At first glance, Synapse may seem like a standard VR shooter. However, subtle yet intentional design choices amplify the sense of embodiment. Take, for example, the game’s cover system. Standard VR shooters allow you to duck behind walls to avoid enemy fire, but these walls often remain passive objects, not interacting meaningfully with your avatar.

Synapse revolutionizes this by enabling you to physically grasp walls and pull yourself into cover, syncing real-life motion with in-game action. It’s a design stroke that feels intuitive, encouraging active engagement rather than passive hiding.

This interaction ties into a concept known as proprioception — your body’s awareness of its position in space, which even applies when you’re not directly looking. Consider a cat dodging a table without glancing — that’s proprioception in action. In Synapse, grabbing a wall becomes part of your proprioceptive model, letting you instinctively sense how to maneuver in response to your environment.

Moreover, Synapse’s gameplay cleverly extends beyond just cover mechanics. The game ingeniously incorporates walls as part of the reloading process. No fumbling with inventories here — spent magazines float free, ready for you to swiftly reload by tapping them against your cover. This seamless pairing of game mechanics not only serves practicality but also further roots the wall into your spatial awareness, making the environment palpably real.

When the world feels tactile, your place within it gains authenticity — that’s embodiment. And while VR naturally immerses you visually and audibly, it’s through these tangible interactions that genuine presence is achieved. Synapse pushes these boundaries even further with its telekinesis system, which we’ll delve into on the next page. Stay tuned for more on how Synapse lets you extend your reach into this immersive reality.