Experimental Setting of 360° Storytelling

The research project identifies and structures aesthetic variables applying them to 12 experimental settings (10 experiments and 2 showcases), each focusing on a specific aspect of VR sensory experience. The aim is to merge the aesthetic variables with narrative in order to utilize the visual, acoustic and atmospheric potential of 360° VR and to produce a unique immersive VR art experience.

Points of Departure for the Project Objectives in Year 1: The 360° camera is static and will not be moved. Venues and locations are static spaces. There will be no editing within a scene.

• EXPERIMENT 1 – FIGURE AND CHARACTER IN 360° VR: The VR narrative possibilities of the protagonists will be worked out.
• EXPERIMENT 2 – MENTAL STATE OF THE FIGURE AND SCENIC SITUATION IN 360° VR: The connection of the mental state of the protagonist to the scenic situation in a 360° VR scenario will be explored.
• EXPERIMENT 3 – 3D SOUNDSCAPES IN 360° VR: The acoustic-dramatic perception of the User will be examined.
• EXPERIMENT 4 – SCENERY IN 360° VR: Exploring the utility of a recognizable space versus a theatrical or ambiguous space for 360° VR storytelling.

Points of Departure for the Project Objectives in Year 2: The 360° camera is both static and in motion. Settings and locations are static spaces and in themselves mobile environments (e.g. a car). There is no editing within a scene.

• EXPERIMENT 5 – EXPLORATION OF MOVEMENT IN 360° VR: The effect of a static 360° camera positioned on a moving stage or in a mobile space will be explored.
• EXPERIMENT 6 – 360° CAMERA CONNECTED TO THE MOVEMENT OF THE ACTOR: This experiment investigates 3 different possibilities of camera movements.
• EXPERIMENT 7 – USING POINTS OF ATTENTION TO INTERACT WITH THE USER: The interactive possibilities between the User and the dramatized 360° VR experience will be examined.
• EXPERIMENT 8 – LIGHT AND SHADOW IN 360° VR: Experiments will be made with VR lighting conditions.

Points of Departure for the Project Objectives in Year 3: Aims are the interlinking of the existing elements to narrative sequences, controlling the aspect of time in VR – storytelling, and exploring the perception and emotional reaction of the user through melding, editing and montage as explored in the various experiments.

• EXPERIMENT 9 – MELDING VISUAL MONTAGE IN 360° VR: The focus is on the examination of soft editing, merging and the smooth transition of two or more VR-situations.
• EXPERIMENT 10 – FRACTURED REALITY IN 360° VR: The fracturing of reality and hard cutting from one VR-scenario to another will be examined.
• SHOWCASE 1 – EXPERT ADVISORS: The interlinked sequences and selected experiments will be evaluated related to their effect and mutual reaction by a panel of expert advisors.
• SHOWCASE 2 – PUBLIC PRESENTATIONS: The results will be made public within the framework of an official presentation.

METHODOLOGY

Each selected literary sequence will be broken down according to the situational conflict and the possible tangible narrative perspectives. The aim of the resulting text templates (360° scripts) is to orient the User in the 360° VR-space and to link the User to the narrative. For this purpose, technical solutions for the production of 360° VR shooting scripts will be developed. At the end of each year, the emotional transfer of the experimental sequences in a 360° VR-space will be assessed by an expert advisory panel.