Introduction

Immersive experiences, such as those created by virtual and augmented reality, represent a new medium for audiences and for storytellers. Storytellers are still developing an understanding of what is possible and what is effective in a good immersive storytelling experience. Immersive experiences differ from past media, like written stories, movies, or even video games, which may be the most closely related. It can be more difficult to move the audience through a narrative arc in an immersive experience. Immersive experiences give more control to the audience over their own embodiment, allowing them to choose where to look and where to go. Immersive experiences can be measured in participation and action, rather than the paragraphs and story beats of a written story. New methods of discovering and interacting with a story in an immersive setting are needed.

To help advance storytelling techniques in immersive environments, a student team will develop an immersive story experience in which participants engage with the story through gestures and physical actions that represent actions, i.e. miming and other gestures standing in for interactions. The team will explore how a set of story compatible gestures can be designed, taught to a user, and recognized by an immersive system. The team will work to evaluate prototypes through user testing and iteratively improve the experience. Benchmarks for success could include measures of presence, memorability, learning, and enjoyment. The story should also communicate a point of view, a lesson, or illustrate an idea or concept.

Project Background

Our team was inspired by the stories of our own families and found similarities of most members being 1^st / 2^nd generation immigrants. Discussing the dehumanizing history many immigrants have faced, we chose to create a VR experience that pays homage to refugee and immigrant culture and allow users to step into their shoes and see the world from their perspective.

The objective of our project is to create an impactful, immersive, story-driven gameplay utilizing VR technology. Specifically, our gameplay aims to diversely recreate scenarios and struggles experienced by immigrants in America. Ultimately, we aspire to shift negative perceptions on immigration into positive ones and humanize this issue that’s consistently been dehumanized.

We were able to successfully implement two levels of gameplay. Each level is an independent, immersive short story. Active participation is required from the user to accomplish each level’s primary objective.

Team Roles

Tools