What if we have been thinking about VR storytelling the wrong way….?
Working in VR since 2015, I have spent a fair bit of time thinking about how Immersive Entertainment (specifically as it relates to XR) will break through. What will the killer entertainment experiences be that compel mainstream audiences to engage? In an attempt to really define it, I often interrogate my own choices when I sit down after a day of work to press play on the latest streaming series when I could be putting my headset on… What is the missing piece, and why should I expect the mainstream market to tune into this entertainment platform when even I don’t use it as my ‘go-to’ for escape/fun experiences?
Part of the answer may be due to the nascent nature of the industry and content in the market at the moment, and surely this will change over time, but I am starting to think this is not the whole story.
At its most basic level, VR is ‘a transportation tool.’ As Zuckerberg once said, “It is a lot easier to move bytes around than to move atoms around.” VR can take us anywhere, real or imaginary, or at least it can with our brains and our consciousness. Perhaps, however, it is not the destination or even the journey that is as important as who else is there when we arrive.
My hypothesis is this — what if we stop thinking about narrative VR as something that we do at home (even though we will physically be doing it in our homes) and think about it more as something that we do socially with others (virtually)? In the same way that we may physically go to the movies or theatre with friends, could we not be experiencing VR narrative works with friends? To enable this, though, we need to create (or emulate) the social layers that we see in the real world. Creating virtual social foyers, lobbies, bars etc., where we meet with friends before a narrative VR experience to chat and hang out. This could be quick or protracted, just as it may be in the real world. Again like in the real world, once we collectively go into the cinema or theatre, we do not converse and socialise with each other, we just co-view or co-consume. Afterwards, we get together again to talk about it and others things. This sort of approach does not suggest that we radically change the way we are already making narrative VR content, just that we add in a social layer to enhance the experience AND help derive meaning and most importantly desire.
In the last couple of years, I have also started to think about how the “Metaversifiaction” of immersive entertainment (and specifically narrative-based VR content) will occur. There are so many different variations and definitions of the Metaverse that are being discussed right now. Some do not include blockchain, some focus heavily on games as the entertainment model, and others debate over if the Metaverse will only exist in full immersion (via XR) vs more basic online experiences such as video conferencing and chat rooms. However it manifests, though, there is one element that is common to all the definitions. One core tenant that is included in all the thinking on the subject, and that is that it will be ‘social’ or ‘multi-user’.
Here may be our further clue to the evolutionary path required for narrative VR to become a mainstream entertainment platform. All the most popular story-based VR experiences we have had over the years are primarily single-player or solo experiences. Everything from Dear Angelica to Invasion to story world games like Star Wars — Tales From the Galaxy’s Edge are all single-player and solo experiences. We have become accustomed to this mode of content consumption through the great ‘Home Entertainment’ platforms of TV, streamers, consoles, et all. Sure, you can watch and play with others at home but you don’t have to. When you do, it is more a factor of sharing a screen than it is a social event.
What if we took this same approach when attending the cinema or live theatre (aka ‘theater’). When was the last time you went to the cinema on your own or went to see a stage production on your own? Rarely I imagine, and that is because there is something else happening there that we value. The socialisation and co-consumption of the experience.
But what about multiplayer computer games, I hear you ask. Absolutely, these are experiences that ONLY work with multiple parties, and some of them are the most popular digital entertainment experiences we have today, such as Fortnite and Roblox. These are also done at home and do not require going out or socialising. However, these are examples where the game mechanics mandate social interaction, and while there are active communities and emergent narrative moments, these works are primarily motivated by interactivity and not the story. At least not in the same way that more passive media like film and TV are. The social aspects are also very specifically restrained to what the games require, not necessarily about chatting or socialising on other topics (unrelated to the games).
The folks at Resolution Games are starting to explore this social layer concept with their themed social game spaces called ‘Tinyverses’. Even though their VR games are multiplayer, they create connected environments where you can socialise with friends before or after the actual game sessions. Coming back to my points above, this sounds similar to how you may socialise with friends before and after going to many social activities in the real world.
My experience with technology over the years has shown me that it rarely creates an entirely new model of behaviour and, moreover, that it enhances, augments or enables existing human behaviour in new ways. Whether or not I am right about an evolution of narrative VR in the manner outlined in my rantings above, it is wise to look at how we behave and consume content now for models of how it may work in the Metaverse, or whatever we end up calling it…
What do you think? Drop some notes below if you have any thoughts…
