Trying to Get Trapped in the Past - Exploring the Illusion of Presence in Virtual Drama

摘要

This article presents the prototype of a virtual cultural heritage installation that employs dramatic storytelling to give visitors a sense of personal presence in a reconstructed historical situation. A cinematic story is delivered through stereoscopic video and spatial audio featuring human actors in a virtual environment. This 'light' version of virtual reality offers a chance to study some mechanisms of immersion available to virtual story designers. The immersive effect of stereoscopic vision and 3D audio is explored and opportunities to heighten the effect through dramatic storytelling are discussed. Trading a real-time perspective for the presence of 'holographic' human actors, the installation focuses on the impact of dramatic narrative in an immersive environment. The article suggests that virtual storytelling allows designers to take the spectator's illusion of personal concern with the proceedings one step further than traditional drama, enabling the spectator to feel personally present and thus 'physically' concerned. The opportunities and limitations of this spatially 'situating' effect are evaluated in the context of the installation.