Why ‘Embodiment’ Takes Precedence Over ‘Immersion’

In our continuing series, Inside XR Design, we shine a spotlight on standout examples of exceptional XR craftsmanship. Today, we’re diving into the game Synapse, with a focus on the intriguing concept of embodiment, a key element that enhances the VR gaming experience.

Editor’s Note: A year has slipped by since this article first captured attention. Yet, the insights remain thoroughly compelling, especially as we find ourselves in 2025. We’re bringing this back to the forefront, hoping to fuel further conversation around embodiment—a crucial component in crafting engaging VR experiences.

You can check out the full video below, or, if you prefer reading, we’ve got an adapted text version for you here.

Understanding Embodiment

Welcome back to another insightful episode of Inside XR Design. Today, we’re focusing on Synapse (2023), a title exclusive to PSVR 2, developed by nDreams. Our discussion centers on a fascinating topic known as embodiment.

You might ask, what exactly is embodiment and why are we delving into it instead of simply highlighting the exhilarating shooting mechanics, explosions, and innovative design in Synapse? Well, understanding embodiment is essential to grasp why certain design choices in the game resonate so well. Stick around—this will make sense in a moment.

Embodiment refers to the sensation of genuinely being present within a virtual experience, as if you’re physically standing in the virtual world surrounding you.

You might wonder, isn’t this what we mean by immersion? While people often use these terms interchangeably, I’d like to draw a clear line between ‘immersion’ and ’embodiment’.

When we talk about ‘immersion’ here, we’re referring to an experience that captivates your attention completely. Imagine a movie so engrossing that it makes the outside world fade away. Yet, even the most captivating film doesn’t make you believe you’re physically inside its world, right? That’s where ’embodiment’ steps in. While ‘immersion’ concerns your focus, ’embodiment’ is about your physical sensation of being within the virtual environment.

In essence, every VR game naturally achieves immersion to a degree, because the headset captures your entire visual and auditory attention. However, some VR experiences manage to elevate this—they don’t just capture your focus, but evoke the sensation that your entire being is within the game world, making actions like touching objects feel tangible.

To put it simply: immersion is attention, and embodiment is the sense of actually being there.

Embodiment exists on a spectrum. Some games only partially achieve this sensation, while others fully immerse players physically. So, what sets them apart? That’s precisely what we’ll explore with Synapse.

Feeling the Cover

At first glance, Synapse might seem like your run-of-the-mill VR shooter, but it includes some deliberate design elements that significantly enhance the sense of embodying the game world. Let’s start with its cover system.

In any VR shooter, you can hide behind walls to shield yourself from enemy fire. However, in Synapse, these surfaces are more than static barriers. You can interact with them by grabbing and physically moving your body in and out of cover. This interaction feels intuitive and enhances gameplay.

Physically maneuvering in relation to the wall, rather than merely strafing with a joystick, makes the wall feel more real. By grabbing it and using it to anchor yourself, it becomes part of your proprioceptive experience.

Exploring Proprioception

Let’s pause to talk about proprioception—a recurring theme in discussions about immersing our bodies into another reality.

Consider a cat nearing a low table, instinctively twitching its ear aside to avoid hitting it. That’s proprioception: understanding the position of your body in space. For the cat to avoid the collision, it must know the space its ear occupies in relation to the table, even without looking.

In Synapse, when you grasp a wall and move your hand, you’re instinctively aware that your body follows suit. The wall transitions from a visual element to something significant, allowing you to interact with it and effectively enhancing your virtual presence. Consequently, your brain starts calculating your proximity to these virtual elements, making the experience feel more profound and personal.

Reloading Mechanics

Walls in Synapse serve multiple purposes; they also assist in the game’s loading mechanics. You can push ammo magazines into your weapon by pressing them against a wall—a detail that ties back to our discussion on embodiment.

Taking a brief detour from embodiment, this design choice is an engaging twist on reloading mechanics. In contrast to the highly detailed weapon interactions in Half-Life: Alyx, Synapse, with its fast-paced nature, opts for a more streamlined approach. Players simply slot the magazine into place, and it works seamlessly within the game’s sci-fi setting, keeping the action fluid without complicating the process.

This reloading technique integrates seamlessly with the cover mechanics, allowing players to use both hands for different tasks simultaneously. Want to reload while using cover? Just push against the wall. This interaction solidifies the wall as a part of your proprioceptive landscape, helping you gauge space and react quickly, further enhancing your sense of embodiment.

By allowing players to meaningfully interact with walls—both for cover and reloading—these elements feel more tangible, enhancing the sensation of actually being within the game world. When virtual surroundings take on a sense of reality, players feel more convincingly present. That’s the core of embodiment: transcending attention to create a physical presence.

This level of interaction makes Synapse exceptional, especially with its telekinesis mechanics, which take player engagement to the next level. Stay tuned for more in our next discussion.