Making you matter: creating interactive VR narratives through experimentation and learning

Abstract

Virtual Reality (VR) is a transformative medium for narrative storytelling where content creators can place an audience member inside the story, give them a role to play, and ultimately make them matter to the characters. Immersive storytelling is fundamentally different from film and games. It requires a new creative toolset that is still in its infancy compared to other entertainment mediums. We provide a behind the scenes look at our many experimentations, failures, and learnings in developing interactive VR animated narratives spanning four released projects: Invasion!, Asteroids!, Crow: The Legend, and Bonfire. We delve into cinematic techniques for VR, including staging, movement mechanics, and directing the viewer's eye. We explore the role the viewer plays in each of our pieces. Finally, we dive into how we make you matter through nonverbal communication, interactivity that supports the narrative structure, non-linear storytelling, and character AI.