1915 was the year stereoscopic cinema appeared, but we must wait until the late 1940s, when the great director and master of montage Sergei Eisenstein began creating what would have been a monumental work on three-dimensional cinema. Unfortunately, his sudden death left an irreparable void in the world of cinematography, and his pioneering work on stereoscopy remained unfinished. Since then, we have pursued the goal of three-dimensionality, slowly approaching it through intermediate stages such as virtual reality (VR) and 3D technologies, now increasingly widespread also thanks to the success of the spectacular “Avatar” by James Cameron.

Despite this, today we are witnessing a paradoxical regression: the pandemic confined people to their homes, and in turn they locked themselves into screens the size of the palm of a hand, satisfied by the fleeting stimulation of short content at the expense of cultural depth, now increasingly marginalized. The world has become a photographic backdrop, and the smartphone has transformed from a communication tool into an always-on portable television.

On the street, I see only people absorbed by small screens: even couples laugh and feel emotions while looking at their phones, not at each other’s faces. We no longer immerse ourselves in the beauty of art: we quickly take a photo and move on. It is a historical fracture: we imagined greatness, but we have reduced ourselves to living inside a screen. How frustrating is that friend who invites you to dinner and stays glued to their phone the entire time. You think that if you left, they might not even notice: they live in the screen, uninterested in you and in the real world.

It may seem like an absurd comedy, but as a filmmaker I read it as a powerful signal: the hunger for sensory stimulation arises from a deep lack of real experience.

In this era, traditional cinematic language is losing effectiveness because audiences no longer want only to watch: they want to touch, perceive, and live. This opens a revolutionary possibility: transforming cinema into a truly immersive medium.

How can we create a truly “perceivable” immersive space?

To build a real three-dimensional cinematic world, where the viewer becomes a creator, two key steps are needed:

1. Technological evolution: from “simulating reality” to “creating existence”

Through spatial computing (VR, AR, XR technologies) and neurological feedback, such as brain-computer interfaces (BCI), we can merge the real and the digital.

• Haptic and environmental feedback
• Non-linear and dynamic storytelling

2. Return to cultural depth

Sensory stimulation must not replace thought, but integrate it.

• Immersion should generate empathy, not just entertainment.

The three possible directions

1. Spatial participation: Using headsets like the Apple Vision Pro, cinema will transcend the screen to merge with real physical space. Viewers will be able to fight side-by-side with the protagonists in their own living rooms, changing the course of the local plot through their interactions.
2. Neural interaction: Through biocompatible BCIs, a sort of real-time emotional resonance can be achieved. The film will dynamically adjust the narrative pace based on the viewer’s emotional state, reaching a true “soul resonance.”
3. Social construction: The movie theater evolves into a real-life narrative space similar to Massive Multiplayer Online (MMO) experiences. Hundreds of viewers enter a historical moment or a fictional world together; their collective decisions will determine the story’s ending, transforming cinema into a new form of social experiment and artistic collaboration.

This is not just technology: it is a revolution in human perception.

We are at the end of one language and the beginning of another. Our task is to free cinema from linear constraints and build a living, three-dimensional, creative world.