Our series, Inside XR Design, dives into specific examples of exceptional XR design. Today, we’re dissecting the game Synapse and delving into the idea of embodiment and why it’s a key component in VR games.
Editor’s Note: It’s hard to imagine it’s been an entire year since we first brought you this piece. Yet, its insights are as pertinent as ever in 2025! We’re resurfacing it to keep the conversation alive around embodiment as a fundamental design principle in creating engaging VR experiences.
You can watch the full video below or keep reading for a text version.
Defining Embodiment
Welcome back to another episode of Inside XR Design. Today, we’re diving into Synapse (2023), a PSVR 2-exclusive by nDreams, but we’ll specifically be exploring it through the lens of a concept known as embodiment.
You might wonder why I’m bringing up embodiment instead of just talking about the exhilarating shooting, explosions, and clever design elements in the game. Understanding embodiment will give us insights into why certain design choices in Synapse work so well. So bear with me for a moment.
Embodiment refers to the sensation of being physically present within a VR environment, as if you’re truly standing there amidst the digital world enveloping you.
Now, you might be thinking, "Isn’t that just immersion?" While people often conflate the terms, there’s a subtle, essential distinction between ‘immersion’ and ‘embodiment’ I’d like to make.
Immersion, in this context, is when your attention is solely captivated by something. Think of the last time a movie engrossed you so entirely that everything outside the cinema seemed non-existent. It’s captivating, but even the most absorbing film doesn’t make you feel as if you’re literally inside it. This is where embodiment steps in.
Simply put, I view immersion as centering on attention. Meanwhile, embodiment is about your physical sense of presence and how it interplays with the world around you.
Let’s acknowledge that all VR games naturally achieve immersion. By overtaking your vision and hearing, they have an inherent ability to command your full attention the moment you don a headset.
Yet, some VR games go beyond just capturing our attention. They transport our entire being into the virtual realm. It feels so tangible that you might expect to feel the surface if you tried touching it.
To clarify, immersion captures attention, whereas embodiment makes you feel genuinely present.
Importantly, embodiment isn’t a simple, on-or-off phenomenon. It exists on a spectrum. Some VR experiences lightly invoke a sense of embodiment, while others achieve a profound level. Discovering what causes this variance brings us to talking about Synapse.
Cover You Can Feel
On the surface, Synapse may seem like your typical VR shooter, but it incorporates several intentional design decisions that enhance the sense of embodiment. Let’s start with the cover system.
In most VR shooters, taking cover is straightforward—you move behind walls to shield yourself from bullets. These walls, however, are typically just static objects without meaningful interaction.
Conversely, Synapse makes cover dynamic by allowing you to physically grab and maneuver your body in and out of hiding. This grounded, intuitive mechanic aligns beautifully with the gameplay.
Instead of merely strafing using a joystick, physically manipulating your position against cover means that these walls suddenly carry more weight and presence. They engage your proprioceptive model by becoming interactive elements of your environment.
Understanding Proprioception
Let’s pause briefly to explore proprioception, a term commonplace when discussing how VR tricks our minds into feeling present in a digital space.
A clear demonstration of proprioception in action involves a graceful cat approaching a table. See how, without conscious effort, it instinctively adjusts its ear just at the precise moment needed to avoid contact?
This is proprioception—our innate sense of spatial awareness regarding our body and surrounding objects. For the cat, it comprehends spatial dimensions without sight.
Similarly, in Synapse’s cover system, grabbing a wall and moving automatically registers in your brain: ‘When I move this hand to the right, my body shifts left.’
Engaging directly with visible elements transforms them from mere obstacles into meaningful, tactile experiences. Your brain starts to note where the walls are in relation to you, further grounding your presence in the simulated world. Essentially, increasing ’embodiment’.
Mags Out
Interestingly, these walls in Synapse serve additional purposes beyond cover—they become reload stations for your weapon.
Stepping away from embodiment just for a second—this is a fantastic design element. In Inside XR Design #4, I examined the intricate weapon mechanics in Half-Life: Alyx (2020). Yet Synapse opts for a different approach, favoring a fast-paced, engaging reloading system.
Instead of navigating complex inventories, magazines float when ejected—waiting to be slid back in for reloading, blending simplicity with the game’s sci-fi vibe seamlessly. This straightforward process keeps the action flowing without diminishing the experience.
This system integrates perfectly with the game’s cover mechanics; you’re engaging a wall with one hand, leaving the other free to reload using the environment.
By utilizing walls to reload, your mind emphasizes their presence—you gauge how near your hand is to perform the action. Again, you mentally map the space, intertwining it with your senses.
Both abilities—to manipulate cover and reload—enhance the realism of interactions by demanding close, engaging interaction. As these environments begin feeling more authentic, you become increasingly convinced of your place within them. This embodies the core principle of embodiment. While virtual realities naturally grip our attention, they only feel genuine when visual stimuli evolve into tactile sensations.
When you’re ready to truly reach out and touch the world, Synapse elevates the experience with an impressive telekinesis system extending interaction possibilities.
Continue on Page 2: Extend Your Reach »
