Immersive experiences are everywhere nowadays, from art shows and concerts to museums, brand activations, and education. They have the ability to pull us out of our everyday reality and place us into other-worldly environments. But have you ever wondered how immersive technology works? Behind the magic is a mix of clever engineering and creative technology that makes these environments dynamic, breathtaking, and sometimes unforgettable.
One of the most common tools is projection mapping. While this technique became more widely used in the 90s and early 2000s, its first public use was actually in 1969! But we’re not here for a history lesson (you can find that here). Projection mapping works by projecting visuals onto 3D surfaces like buildings or stage sets. It reshapes physical spaces into storytelling canvases. It is so widely used because it can adapt to surfaces of almost every shape and form. Because of this, projection mapping works well on the walls of cathedrals. For example, “Paris Cœur de Lumières” at Saint-Sulpice Church in Paris used 360-degree projections to tell the church’s story, blending light and sound into something truly transporting.
LED environments are another major force. These setups use programmable LED lights to flood a space with color and motion. Large, high-resolution LED panels wrap around spaces or form dynamic installations, commonly seen in concerts, art installations, and immersive brand activations. Creators can be super creative with how they use LED lights to engage their audience. For example, The Infinite Crystal Universe by TeamLab used thousands of LED lights to execute their experience.
Video walls are large-scale displays made by joining LED or LCD panels into a seamless, high-res screen. Used in everything from concerts to control rooms, they’re both functional and artistic. Immersive video walls were among the technology used for Foot Locker during NBA All-Star Week 2025 to create an electrifying brand activation. The production company Bridgewater Studios converted an empty retail space into a 5,000-square-foot immersive basketball experience that blended Foot Locker’s brand with the energy of NBA All-Star Weekend.
Motion capture (or MoCap) is a technology used to digitally record the movement of people or objects. It’s widely used in fields like film, video games, animation and virtual reality to create realistic, data-driven animations or simulations. It uses tracking, marker identification, skeletal mapping and data processing to capture natural, human-like motion quickly and with high fidelity.
It reduces time animators need to spend creating realistic movement by hand. It’s especially helpful when animating large groups of people. For example, TIME’s “The March” VR project recreated Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1963 speech using MoCap, letting users experience the moment in virtual reality.
Immersive technology is still evolving. In the near future, we may see creators try neural interfaces that respond to brain activity and volumetric capture, which creates full 3D scenes using real-life footage. As the tools get more sophisticated, the experiences will only get deeper. Don’t worry, the Black Mirror-like future is still far away.
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