This Figure shows the Immersion Potential (IP in standardized values) for JK Rowling’s 1st Harry Potter book (German version: ‚Der Stein der Weisen‘).
The IP estimates each segment’s potential to evoke an immersive experience (e.g., suspense) in readers which can be measured (e.g., Jacobs & Lüdtke, 2017; Lüdtke et al., 2014). The IP is a complex superfeature that depends on a number of subfeatures, such as the imageability, arousal and familiarity of words, the % of descriptive action verbs (e.g., call, kiss) or the semantic relatedness between the sentences of a text. The simplified estimates in this Figure are based on a recent machine learning assisted ACTA (cf. Jacobs, 2018).
It can be seen that the theoretical IP is above the average zero-line during the initial chapters and below towards the end of the book. The big majority of chapters have IPs that do not differ much, though (15/17 are within ± 1 standard deviation of the mean), the entire book being rather immersive.
Jacobs, A. M. (2019). Immersive Analytics from the Perspective of Computational (Neuro-)poetics. Front. Robot. AI, in revision.
Jacobs, A. M., & Lüdtke, J. (2017). Immersion into narrative and poetic worlds: A neurocognitive poetics perspective. In F. Hakemulder, M.M. Kuijpers, E.S. Tan, K. Bálint and M.M. Doicaru. (Eds.), Narrative Absorption. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. (pp. 69-96). https://books.google.de/books
Lüdtke, J., Meyer-Sickendieck, B., & Jacobs, A. M. (2014). Immersing in the stillness of an early morning: Testing the mood empathy hypothesis of poetry reception. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 8(3), 363. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/274987255
Rowling, JK (1998). Harry Potter und der Stein der Weisen. Carlsen.