vispassages

Vispassages is a concept used in multimedia studies to denote the defined unit of transition between visual contexts within interactive media. A vispassage identifies a movement from a source scene, view, or state to a target one, with an emphasis on preserving narrative or experiential continuity during the transition.

A vispassage typically includes identifiers for the source and target contexts, a transition duration, a transition type (for example fade, slide, morph, or cross-dissolve), and optional attributes such as easing curves, timing offset, and accessibility notes. Some implementations also attach analytics metadata, such as estimated viewer attention or engagement during the transition.

Applications of vispassages appear in interactive documentaries, narrative games, and data-visualization dashboards, where designers map the user’s path through content and researchers analyze how transitions influence comprehension and engagement. Vispassages can be authored as part of a scene graph, a timeline, or a narrative script, and they are commonly stored as metadata alongside media assets in JSON, XML, or YAML formats.

History and standards: The term has emerged in academic and industry discussions as a way to formalize transitions, but there is no universal standard, and definitions vary by toolchain. Critics point to potential ambiguity about what constitutes a distinct passage and to the overhead of maintaining transition metadata.

See also: Narrative visualization, Visual analytics, Scene graph, Interactive media, Timeline, User experience.