One of my favourite notions is serendipity. Loosely explained it’s the idea of doing unexpected, but great finds. And really, that’s what the web is all about. I did one such find this evening, when I bumped into Robbie Cooper. He has been doing a lot of research around computer games and virtual worlds, and how we interact with the screens we increasingly spend so much time in front of.

He’s been taking photographs of online gamers next to their virtual alter ego’s aka avatars. Quite a fascinating constellation. It’s like a modern equivalent to the saying about the likeness of a dog and its owner…

And for his latest project, Immersion, he has been travelling around the world filming children and teenagers expressions while they’re playing computer games. It’s hilarious, adorable and frightening at the same time. However, it’s also a very rare and almost intimate glimpse of how the flow state or immersive ability of people look like. In my opinion there’s nothing that immerses people for so long stretches of time than computer games – and this particularly applies when it comes to MMORPGs like World of Warcraft and Runescape. To get just a small piece of that attention and dedication is like the holy grail to any brand. Anyway, see for yourself.