Electroencephalographic beta coherence as an objective measure of psychological immersion in film

All audiovisual translation (AVT) modes mediate the audiovisual text for the audience.
For audiences excluded from all or part of a visual or an auditory channel,
this has significant implications in terms of comprehension and enjoyment.
With subtitling (SDH in particular), we want the audiences to have the same
quality of access to the characters and worlds that is afforded the hearing audience.
Likewise, with AD, we want the audiences to have an equivalent experience
to that afforded sighted audiences. Since the degree to which an audience
becomes immersed in the story world plays an important role in this quality of
access and enjoyment, it would be useful to find ways to measure immersion reliably.
In this article we present a discussion on the measurement of immersion
in subtitled film using a triangulation of offline and online measures. In particular,
electroencephalography (EEG) as an online measure holds a lot of potential
in AVT research. We present the results of a pilot study in which EEG beta coherence
between the prefrontal and posterior parietal cortices is used as an indication
of the degree to which an audience surrenders itself to the story world and
experience the characters and events imaginatively in an immersed state. Our
findings indicate that EEG beta coherence could be a valuable tool for measuring
the fluctuating states of immersion in film in the presence of subtitles, but also
potentially in the context of AD.