Nearly a century ago, in his novel Brave New World, Aldous Huxley imagined a future where movies weren’t just seen and heard, but felt. He called them the “feelies”—a form of entertainment that delivered instant, all-encompassing sensory experiences. For Huxley, this was a warning: a society that chooses easy sensation over deep thought might be giving up more than it realizes.
Fast forward to today, and Huxley’s vision feels less like fiction and more like a documentary. We haven’t invented the “feelies” exactly, but we are in the middle of a massive shift away from the simple written word and toward a world of immersive, multisensory communication. Is this the future we want? Let’s take a look.
From Text to TikTok: The New Language
Think about how you communicate daily. Not long ago, it was all about text: books, newspapers, and long emails. Now, our conversations are a vibrant mix of media.
| Then | Now | What’s Changed? |
| Plain text emails | Threaded chats with GIFs, videos, and voice notes | We now convey tone and emotion instantly, without needing to write it all out. |
| Reading a newspaper | Scrolling through short-form video on TikTok or Reels | We get the gist of a story in seconds, complete with visuals and sound. |
| Static websites | Augmented reality (AR) shopping and virtual reality (VR) events | We can now “walk through” a virtual store or attend a concert from our living room. |
This isn’t happening by accident. It’s driven by powerful technologies that are becoming more common every day:
• Live Streaming and VR: The global market for live streaming was valued at $87.55 billion in 2023 and is projected to grow to over $345 billion by 2030, according to Grand View Research. During the pandemic, universities began offering live-streamed lectures with VR components, allowing remote students to feel like they were actually in the classroom. Companies like Holodia are now creating VR experiences for conferences and training sessions, turning what used to be boring PowerPoint presentations into immersive, interactive events.
• Augmented Reality (AR): Remember Pokémon Go? That was just the beginning. Today, AR is reshaping how we shop and learn. IKEA’s AR app lets you visualize furniture in your home before buying it. Snapchat’s AR filters have become so sophisticated that they can map your face in real-time and apply complex effects. Businesses are increasingly adopting AR to create what they call “immersive communication strategies,” and the AR market is expected to reach over $1 trillion by 2032.
• AI Assistants: Tools like ChatGPT and Gemini are no longer just about text. They can understand our voice, look at images we show them, and respond with a mix of words, speech, and visuals. This blending of senses is a step closer to the “sensory-rich” world Huxley imagined. When you ask an AI to describe a painting, it doesn’t just give you words—it can show you related images, play audio commentary, and adapt its response based on your questions.
Why We’re Leaning into Immersive Communication
This shift isn’t just a gimmick; it has real benefits, which is why it’s catching on so quickly.
It’s Faster: A picture is worth a thousand words, and a video or a VR experience might be worth a million. In our fast-paced world, being able to convey emotion and complex ideas quickly is a huge advantage. A surgeon can learn a new procedure faster from a VR simulation than from reading a textbook. A teenager can understand a complex social issue more quickly from a short video than from a news article.
It’s More Accessible: For people with dyslexia, language barriers, or low literacy, a wall of text can be a major obstacle. Multimodal content, which uses visuals and audio, can make information more accessible to everyone. The Immersive Experience Network’s 2024 audience survey found that audiences most strongly identified immersive experiences with “feeling like I’m experiencing it for real,” suggesting that immersive media can create a sense of direct understanding that transcends language barriers.
It Helps Us Remember: Our brains are wired to remember experiences, not just facts. Research in cognitive psychology has consistently shown that when we learn something using multiple senses, we’re more likely to remember it. A 2020 study published in Scientific Reports found that multisensory experiences significantly enhance episodic memory—the kind of memory we use to recall events and experiences. This is why immersive media is becoming a powerful tool in education and marketing: it’s not just engaging, it’s also more memorable.
The Other Side of the Coin: What Are We Losing?
Huxley’s biggest fear about the “feelies” was that they would make people passive. When you’re constantly bombarded with sensations, it’s easy to stop thinking critically and just… consume. Are we seeing signs of that today?
The End of Deep Reading? When complex ideas are squeezed into a 30-second video, we often lose the nuance and context. Consider the difference between reading a detailed history book about World War II and watching a TikTok about it. You get the highlights, but you miss the deeper understanding—the competing perspectives, the moral ambiguities, the lessons that only emerge from sustained engagement with a topic. There’s a real risk that as we become more comfortable with bite-sized information, we lose the patience for the kind of deep reading that builds wisdom.
Attention Overload: The constant stream of notifications, videos, and AR pop-ups can fragment our attention. Studies show that people who frequently switch between media have a harder time focusing on complex tasks. It’s becoming harder to focus on one thing for an extended period, which is essential for deep thinking and creativity. A 2023 study in Nature found that heavy media multitasking was associated with reduced attention span and working memory capacity.
Your Brain for Sale? Immersive platforms can collect new kinds of data about us, like where we look in a virtual room, how long we linger on an object, or our emotional responses to an ad. This raises serious privacy questions. Are we comfortable with companies having that level of insight into our minds? Unlike traditional advertising, which can only track what you click, immersive platforms can track how you feel in real-time.
So What’s the Answer? The solution isn’t to reject these new technologies entirely, but to be more mindful of how we use them. It’s about finding a balance between the immersive world and the quiet, reflective space we need for deep thought. This means deliberately creating spaces—in our schools, our workplaces, and our homes—where deep reading and contemplation are still valued and protected.
What’s Next? The Future of “Feeling”
If Huxley were alive today, he’d probably be both amazed and alarmed. The technologies on the horizon are even more powerful than what he imagined:
Haptic Suits: Companies like bHaptics are already developing suits and gloves that let you “feel” virtual objects, from the texture of a fabric to the impact of a virtual punch. Imagine playing a video game where you can actually feel the recoil of a gun or the warmth of a virtual fire. This technology is already being tested in training simulations for surgeons and soldiers.
Brain-Computer Interfaces: This sounds like science fiction, but researchers are working on devices that can adapt a story or a game in real-time based on your emotional state. Neuralink and other companies are developing implants that could eventually allow direct communication between your brain and a computer. Imagine a movie that gets scarier because it knows you’re already on edge, or a game that adjusts its difficulty based on your stress levels. The potential is enormous, and so are the ethical questions.
Shared Worlds: The metaverse is still in its early days, but the goal is to create shared virtual spaces where we can work, play, and socialize. Platforms like Roblox and Fortnite are already experimenting with this, hosting concerts and social events in virtual spaces. This could blur the lines between the real and the virtual in ways we can’t yet fully comprehend—and it raises questions about what it means to be “present” or “together” when you’re in a virtual space.
Conclusion: A Brave New World, or Just a New Way of Talking?
The move away from the written word and toward a more immersive, multisensory world is already here. It’s not some far-off future; it’s happening right now, in our pockets and in our living rooms.
These new technologies offer incredible opportunities for connection, learning, and entertainment. But Huxley’s warning still echoes: if we’re not careful, we could trade the depth of our thoughts for the thrill of a fleeting sensation.
The future of communication isn’t about choosing between text and VR. It’s about learning how to use these powerful new tools without losing the ability to think for ourselves. For educators, this means protecting time for deep reading and contemplation, even as we embrace new technologies. For technologists, it means designing immersive experiences that encourage active engagement and critical thinking, not passive consumption. For all of us, it means being intentional about when and how we use these tools, and remembering that the most important conversations sometimes happen in the quiet spaces between the screens.
The challenge is to build a future that is both immersive and thoughtful, a world where we can feel deeply without forgetting how to think critically. Huxley’s warning wasn’t about technology itself—it was about what happens when we stop asking questions and start accepting whatever feels good. As we move deeper into the world of immersive communication, that warning is more relevant than ever.
References
• Grand View Research. (2023). Live Streaming Market Size, Share & Growth Report, 2030. Retrieved from https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/live-streaming-market-report
• Duarte, S. E., et al. (2025 ). Multisensory processing impacts memory for objects and their spatial locations. Memory & Cognition, 53, 1-15.
• Immersive Experience Network. (2024). Immersive Audience Report 2024. Retrieved from https://immersiveexperience.network/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/IEN-Audience-Report-2024.pdf
• Huxley, A. (1932 ). Brave New World. Chatto & Windus.
• Ophir, E., Nass, C., & Wagner, A. D. (2009). Cognitive control in media multitaskers. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 106(37), 15583-15587.