Edinburgh Napier University

  Recent advancements in communication and computer technology have made available and affordable the immersive technology necessary for broader applications beyond industrial use. Facing growing competition from the emergence of new media as an attractive option for youngsters’ leisure time and cultural enjoyment, traditional arts such as Cantonese opera have undergone important transformations in a bid to survive the rapidly changing sociocultural landscape. With a dearth of research on the stimulating effects of new media, this chapter presents the findings of a project that examined the motivational effects of immersive media on adolescents’ engagement in Cantonese opera. Thirty-two undergraduate students from Hong Kong were invited to participate in a study that required them to watch a Cantonese opera theatre performance using both conventional and immersive media; to that end, a 360-degree Cantonese opera theatre performance was produced and viewed using a virtual reality (VR) headset, after which the participants’ viewing experiences and perceived motivational effects were compared with a conventional 2-D screen display via a questionnaire survey. Findings revealed that the immersive media was found to be more interactive and motivational than the conventional approach, revealing the possibility of better engaging the younger generation in the appreciation and learning of this particular genre.