Abstract

This project presents a virtual reality (VR) Interactive Narrative aiming to leave users reflecting on the perspectives one chooses to view life through. The narrative is driven by interactions designed using the concept of procedural rhetoric, which explores how rules and mechanics in games can persuade people about an idea, and Shin's cognitive model, which presents a dynamic view of immersion in VR. The persuasive nature of procedural rhetoric in combination with immersion techniques such as tangible interfaces and first-person elements of VR can effectively work together to immerse users into a compelling narrative experience with an intended emotional response output. The narrative is experienced through a young woman in a state between life and death, who wakes up as her subconscious-self in a limbo-like world consisting of core memories from her life, where the user is tasked with taking photos of the protagonist's memories for her to come back to life. Users primarily interact with and are integrated into the narrative through a photography mechanic, as they have the agency to select "perspective" filters to apply to the protagonist's camera from which to view a core memory through, ultimately choosing which perspectives of her memories become permanent when she comes back to life. This project hopes to provide an example of effectively applying procedural rhetoric to a VR interactive narrative so that future interactive narrative designers can further apply and explore how procedural rhetoric can work with immersion techniques to create compelling and immersive VR experiences.

Thesis Completion

2021

Semester

Fall

Thesis Chair/Advisor

Cruz-Neira, Carolina

Co-Chair

Harrington, Maria

Degree

Bachelor of Science (B.S.)

College

College of Engineering and Computer Science

Department

Computer Science

Degree Program

Computer Science

Language

English

Access Status

Open Access

Release Date

12-1-2021

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