Simulating Experiences of Displacement and Migration: Developing Immersive and Interactive Media Forms Around Factual Narratives

Immigration is a highly politicised and emotive area of public discourse. During the peak of the so-called ‘Refugee Crisis’ in Europe, a number of EU politicians and mass media outlets manipulated the abstract idea of ‘the migrant’ as a scapegoat for a number of social ills including rising crime, unemployment and national security. Yet, during these years, some news organisations did seek to counter the dominant negative narratives around migration by exploring new modes of storytelling around interactive and immersive digital environments. This study examines four such media projects, all developed between 2014 and 2016. Their interactive narratives sought to break down popular discourses which portrayed migrants as “the other” by creating an emotional connection between media user and the experience of refugees themselves. For this research, journalists, editors and producers were interviewed to determine the motivations of the content creators and the impact their storytelling techniques had on viewers

'An Amuse-Bouche at Best': 360 Degree VR Storytelling in Full Perspective

Much has been written about the function of narrative in virtual reality (VR) productions (Aylett & Louchart, 2003; Aylett et al, 2005; Ryan, 2001; 2005; 2008; 2009), but the role of the audience, and the relative degree of control that they have over the content, has led some scholars to believe that there is an ontological problem with describing VR in narrative terms. This article investigates some of these assumptions, via an analysis of an undertheorised aspect of VR that has emerged in recent years – the 360° film. It argues that 360° film represents a much more important aspect of VR than has been previously recognised. In so doing, the article establishes this medium as an important field of study, and argues that ultimately, it will be the commercial infrastructure for this content which will define the parameters of immersive storytelling