“Flower and the Youth”: Virtual Narrative and Creative Methods of Oral Performance in China Intangible Cultural Heritage

The intangible cultural heritage of China contains many different forms of performing arts, of which oral performance is an important branch. "Hua'er" is the most popular folk performance sung in the Hui ethnic area of Ningxia. Based on technology of virtual reality (VR) and gesture recognition, our work proposes three design methods: interactive performance narrative, metaphorical elements and embodied cognition, applied to the VR performance, "Flower and the Youth". VR can provide audience with a more immersed experience that contributes to the transmission and dissemination of non-heritage performing arts. Our work provides universal design approaches to the creation of content for future intangible cultural heritage performances.