Analysis of the narrative communication characteristics of virtual reality experiences: meaning-making components of the immersive story

Virtual reality is a technology and media that has evolved dramatically in the last decades. Undoubtedly, the medium has developed its own dynamics and narrative characteristics, due to the possibility of interaction and the ability to allow the viewer/user to focus on different levels of action. In this research, the relevant narrative characteristics in virtual reality are described based on a literature review. Secondly, a sample of online experiences of 360º virtual reality, or cinematic virtual reality (CVR), are analyzed to determine the characters and possibilities of narrative features presented. This analysis can help establish parameters and guidelines for the creation of virtual reality and 360º immersive contents in heterogeneous audiovisual and multimedia fields. The results show both the narrative and aesthetic possibilities of the analyzed videos and their technical and expressive possibilities, in terms of the ability to integrate narrative structures, as well as content in the use of innovative formal resources. In this sense, 360º immersive video becomes an added value of considerable dimensions

Cinematic virtual reality as a new narrative form

Over the past three decades, digital information technologies have rapidly transformed our means of communication and introduced new media forms. Some of the most recent developments in this respect are the emergence of 360-degree video cameras (both at the consumer level and for industrial production), the introduction of computer applications to process 360-degree video images, and wide-scale adoption of head-mounted displays (HMD). These technologies, all working together, seem to provide us with a new form of filmmaking, new potentials for cinematic storytelling, and in fact, a new form of cinematic experience. Although 360-degrees films that are produced to be watched on HMDs have immensely evolved in the past decade, the creative projects produced in this field remains relatively experimental. Cultivating the widespread adoption of VR headsets towards developing new narrative forms and exploiting the potentials of this new medium towards storytelling remains as challenging yet promising task. This paper will examine the narrative potentials of a new media form, which is called Cinematic Virtual Reality (CVR).Publisher's Versio

Animated storytelling in 360 degrees

Mastergradsoppgave i digital kommunikasjon og kultur, Høgskolen i Innlandet, 2019.This Master thesis is examining how film form and film style is utilized to tell stories within VR movies; animated shorts aimed at screening through head mounted displays (HMD). Mainly, these shorts have a linear narrative, but simultaneously leave some decisions to the spectator, e.g. where to turn their head at any moment, consequently leaving the framing of shots to the audience. Since they all have a certain degree of interactivity, these productions have inherited features from both movies and games. Thus, the theoretical basis will include works from both academic fields. The objective is to study what parts of film form and film style are still applicable within a ubiquitous 360-degrees view. I will also study how the potential sense of immersion and spatial presence achieved by the 360-degrees view influences the narration. The thesis is conducted as a qualitative analysis of the following study objects: Fan, M. (Producer) & Darnell, E. (Director). (2016). Invasion! [Animated short for 360 degrees screening]. USA: Baobab Studios. Eisenmann, D. (Producer) & Osborne, P. (Director). (2016). Pearl. [Animated short for 360 degrees screening]. USA: Evil Eye Pictures. Cellucci, C. (Producer), Pinkava, J. (Director) & Oftedal, M. (Director). (2018). Piggy. [Animated short for 360 degrees screening]. USA: Google Spotlight Stories. The first selection, Invasion! (Fan & Darnell, 2016), is one of the earliest attempts of transferring animated movies into HMDs, and in this one the spectator additionally is granted with an avatar. The second selection, Pearl (Eisenmann & Osborne, 2016) is considered a milestone within the medium as the first 360 animated short (and the only one till this date) to receive a nomination for an Academy Award. The final selection, Piggy (Cellucci, Pinkava & Oftedal, 2018) includes narrative elements proceeding in real time, and the pacing and order of events can thus partly be influenced by where the spectator is turning their gaze. Under the headlines Film Form, Film Style and Immersion/Presence, I will examine how a ubiquitous visual display affects the way a narrative pattern (film form) is constructed, and how the technical and aesthetic devices (film style) are utilized to convey this pattern. Finally, I will look at whether these movies are able to give a sense of immersion/presence and how this might influence the narrative

Effects of Character Guide in Immersive Virtual Reality Stories

Bringing cinematic experiences from traditional film screens into Virtual Reality (VR) has become an increasingly popular form of entertainment in recent years. VR provides viewers unprecedented film experience that allows them to freely explore around the environment and even interact with virtual props and characters. For the audience, this kind of experience raises their sense of presence in a different world, and may even stimulate their full immersion in story scenarios. However, different from traditional film-making, where the audience is completely passive in following along director’s decisions of storytelling, more freedom in VR might cause viewers to get lost on halfway watching a series of events that build up a story. Therefore, striking a balance between user interaction and narrative progression is a big challenge for filmmakers. To assist in organizing the research space, we presented a media review and the resulting framework to characterize the primary differences among different variations of film, media, games, and VR storytelling. The evaluation in particular provided us with knowledge that were closely associated with story-progression strategies and gaze redirection methods for interactive content in the commercial domain. Following the existing VR storytelling framework, we then approached the problem of guiding the audience through the major events of a story by introducing a virtual character as a travel companion who provides assistance in directing the viewer’s focus to the target scenes. The presented research explored a new technique that allowed a separate virtual character to be overlaid on top of an existing 360-degree video such that the added character react based on the head-tracking data to help indicate to the viewer the core focal content of the story. The motivation behind this research is to assist directors in using a virtual guiding character to increase the effectiveness of VR storytelling, assuring that viewers fully understand the story through completing a sequence of events, and possibly realize a rich literary experience. To assess the effectiveness of this technique, we performed a controlled experiment by applying the method in three immersive narrative experiences, each with a control condition that was free ii from guidance. The experiment compared three variations of the character guide: 1) no guide; 2) a guide with an art style similar to the style of the video design; and 3) a character guide with a dissimilar style. All participants viewed the narrative experiences to test whether a similar art style led to better gaze behaviors that had higher likelihood of falling on the intended focus regions of the 360-degree range of the Virtual Environment (VE). By the end of the experiment, we concluded that adding a virtual character that was independent from the narrative had limited effects on users’ gaze performances when watching an interactive story in VR. Furthermore, the implemented character’s art style made very few difference to users’ gaze performance as well as their level of viewing satisfaction. The primary reason could be due to limitation of the implementation design. Besides this, the guiding body language designed for an animal character caused certain confusion for numerous participants viewing the stories. In the end, the character guide approaches still provided insights for future directors and designers into how to draw the viewers’ attention to a target point within a narrative VE, including what can work well and what should be avoide

Bending Educational Reality

Virtual reality (VR), an emergent technology, affords experiential content delivery in education by evoking emotive responses in users, which can be prohibitive via traditional media. This thesis explores VR for the development of grit – passion and perseverance, which are essential characteristics in education and long-term success. The research proposes design strategies to stimulate senses for emotional engagement and a physiological response. In the project, two interactive environments position the user in emotional states to build passion and perseverance. To develop passion, the virtual world is designed to engage in creativity using 3D-spatial audio and visual effects. In contrast, to build perseverance users are exposed to a challenging environment that requires them to overcome and positively associate frustration with growth. This thesis demonstrates the potential of design for higher sense-stimulation applied through VR in education

Blend Space: Architectural Storytelling in the Age of Mixed Reality

Storytelling and narratives have long been traditions for communication in human culture. Hieroglyphics, cave paintings, and stone tablets became the mediums in which this common method of communication began. The reasons why people tell stories are numerous, the most common ones being to entertain, to keep cultural heritage, to transfer knowledge, or provide warnings to others of danger. In addition, cultures often use architecture as a place to embed these narratives. As technology has rapidly developed, so have the modes for telling stories. Today, stories are moving beyond the physical, and into both virtual and mixed realities. Virtual and augmented reality technologies are receiving more investments as well as becoming more prevalent with the capability to impact society in a number of ways. These technologies are also shaping the way stories are being told and how they are experienced, focusing on the human perspective. While storytelling has been a part of architecture for centuries, the subject of merging mixed reality technology with fundamental architectural elements to convey a narrative remains untapped. Therefore, this thesis explores the question of how designers can reinvent architecture as a vehicle for storytelling in the age of mixed reality. It is imperative for the profession of architecture to embrace the powerful possibilities of mixed reality technology as it affords designers the ability to communicate, design, and experience both information and narratives in uniquely humanistic ways by enhancing basic human senses such as sight, sound, and touch. This approach effectively focuses on the user experience which is an often overlooked aspect of design. Advisor: David Newto

The BG News December 9, 2005

The BGSU campus student newspaper December 9, 2005. Volume 96 - Issue 73https://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/bg-news/8530/thumbnail.jp

Visions in the Ville: Looking toward the next 125 years. Volume 2: Design proposals

The 2014 “Visions in the Ville” summer studio explored Aggieville’s potential as the community looks toward the future. The studio spanned eight weeks and was offered by the Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional & Community Planning at Kansas State University. Associate Professors Blake Belanger and Howard Hahn directed the efforts of fourteen mid-level graduate landscape architecture students, and documented the studio’s research and design findings in two volumes: Volume 1: Critical Mapping and Volume 2: Design Proposals. The intent of the studio was to identify ideas, visions, and strategies that will contribute to a community dialogue about enhancing Aggieville’s future. The studio researched the history, character, economics, demographics, and ecological conditions of Aggieville, as well as the district’s broader role in the evolving community and regional context. Volume 2 builds on the studio’s research and strategies developed through critical mapping, and presents five planning and design proposals for Aggieville and its context. Students repeatedly engaged community stakeholders to discuss design development and presented their final ideas in various venues, including a public open house, a presentation to the Manhattan City Commission, and a public exhibit at “Aggieville’s 125th Birthday Street Fair and Dance.” Primary findings include design proposals for improving physical connectivity and partnerships across the community, providing medium to high-density mixed-use urban infill, developing permanent and temporary regional attractions, and enhancing civic space in and around Aggieville