Visual Storytelling and Narrative Experiences in Extended Reality: Guest Editors’ Introduction

Virtual, augmented, and mixed reality technologies offer unparalleled opportunities for embodied presence in immersive digital environments. While these platforms are primarily discussed regarding their technological capabilities for simulating fictional scenes or enabling interactions with virtual entities, their profound implications on storytelling and narrative comprehension remain underexplored. The narrative dimension is instrumental as factors like interactivity, stereoscopic displays, and user mobility define what details become available and in what sequence, generating each user’s unique vantage point and experience. In order to address the limited theoretical and methodological accounts on immersive virtual storytelling, this special issue brings together multidisciplinary perspectives spanning engineering, psychology, neuroscience, anthropology, and digital activism. With the proposed novel conceptual frameworks, technologies, applications, and inclusivity initiatives, the contributions examine immersive visual narratives in an expansive manner. Thereby, this special issue aims to provide a novel understanding of how virtual, augmented, and mixed reality platforms can be leveraged to craft and experience narratives in profoundly immersive ways. By providing insights into how immersive qualities transform narrative comprehension, this special issue advances our knowledge of the complex relationship between story, technology, and the human experience.