Passive and Interactive Storytelling in VR
We hear a lot these days about how virtual reality is a great medium for interactive storytelling, and producers seem keen to get an ‘interactive’ element in every VR piece, no matter how minor or token. Yet, interactive storytelling is nothing new, and in fact, VR can be a powerful medium for both interactive and passive storytelling — but in different ways.
Interactive stories
Before we go further: what is meant by ‘interactive’ storytelling? Do we mean non-linear? User-triggered advancement of the story? or just an ability to explore your environment more fully, e.g., pick up an object that is not vital to the story? Even the most ‘passive’ VR experience will be more interactive than a traditional film, as the viewer has agency over which direction to look in. Here, I primarily use ‘interactive’ to mean the user has some control over the direction or pacing of the main story.
Interactive storytelling, in its modern, rule-bound from, goes back at least to the 1970s. Dungeons & Dragons, ‘Choose your Own Adventure’ books and early text-based computer games such as Zork in 1980 were great examples of the ‘gamification’ of storytelling. And yet, if we think about it and maybe expand our definition slightly, we can see that some form of interactive storytelling has been present throughout history. Chess and other war games, festivals, parades, masquerade balls, and even religious rituals and courts of law have all been all ways of recounting important stories, re-enacting historical events or teaching morality, while involving the audience, or, rather the players. The audience and the players in essence merge into one, and the outcomes of the stories are different each time.
Since the 1980s, video games have taken up the mantle of interactive storytelling, and improved and changed it at light speed. Artificial intelligence, even of a rudimentary sort, has been key in developing interactivity. VR, coupled with advances in AI and social networks, now promises another leap forward, and we are only just now at the beginning of the process, with merely a vague idea of what is truly possible. No one doubts that role-playing, adventure and action games can be even more engrossing if the player really feels she or he is there. So, is interactive storytelling in VR really just a VR video game?… well, yes. Non-VR video games have varying levels of interactivity, action and scripted scenes, ranging from pure-play wave shooters all the way to games with extensive cut scenes like The Last of Us, and even “walking simulators” like Dear Esther. And we should expect the same variety of gaming in VR.
Passive stories
But what about ‘passive’ storytelling? This has had less attention in VR and is often seen as somehow lesser than, or a stepping stone to, ’full’ VR, i.e., interactive VR. In reality, passive storytelling is a separate animal, with its own unique characteristics that can really blossom in VR under the right creative team.
Much of our waking lives is spent in passive mode. We observe, we listen, we absorb. Whether we are witnessing an argument on a bus or watching a compelling drama on television, we engage our senses — primarily sight and sound but often the others as well — to increase our knowledge of the world, comfort ourselves, scare ourselves, trigger catharsis, or just increase our own capacity for imagination, which in turn increases our capacity for telling our own stories to others. This is a fundamental part of being human. With VR, we have the chance to elevate such storytelling way beyond anything anyone has ever experienced in history. A compelling, professionally crafted narrative, coupled with draw-dropping visuals and immersive spatial or binaural sound can create a profound, transporting experience if done properly. Hyper-stimulating the senses and the mind, if done responsibly, will be an incredible use of VR, and will help push VR into mainstream, mass- market audiences.
Arbitrarily introducing interactive elements into an otherwise passive story just for their own sake can interfere with this sensory stimulation. There is often a trade-off between a tightly-crafted, but linear script, and interactivity. Do you trust the storyteller (writer and/or director) to draw you in? Is the storyteller doing a good job? If so, then there shouldn’t be a need to choose your own path — you’d just be diluting the quality of narrative. And if you, as a VR viewer, want to be made to think and feel — well, these happen best in reaction to an outside stimulus. If you are too much in control, the impact can be lessened as you worry about what you “should” be doing. Sometimes — often! — we humans just want to sit back and be entertained.
