Rekindle: Enhancing Interactive Narrative in Virtual Reality with Coherent, Agency-driven Interactions
Hector Fan, Jay David Bolter · 2024
In this research, we investigate the potential of enhanced interactivity in providing new possibilities for interactive narratives within Virtual Reality (VR). We introduce "Rekindle," a first-person narrative experience in VR. The narrative offers the interactor an embodied experience as a gay protagonist on a journey to reclaim lost memories, set against the backdrop of a dystopian future where a regime enforces stringent heteronormativity through the manipulation of memories. Central to this experience is the Memory Retrieval Mechanism, which empowers the interactor to explore and retrieve scattered memories. This activity reinforces immersion and the interactor’s connection within the narrative. By integrating coherent interactions grounded in narrative, "Rekindle" facilitates the creation of dramatic agency, thereby enhancing the narrative by making the story more compelling and consistent.