The experts of Working Group 2.2 are: Kaja Antlej (the chairwoman), Vincent De Koning, Savvas Varitimiadis, Nausikaä El-Mecky, Petja Janžekovič, Eleni Kirioti, Sander Muenster, Tadej Vindiš, Sophia Adam, Lieke Wijnia, Aleksandra Kostič

The Working Group 2.2 Technologies and Tools of the VIMM Thematic Area 2-Directions has provided the outcome of work: a vast list of 89 best practices and state of the art examples of virtual reality, augmented reality and mixed reality used in cultural heritage, in order to find out what the characteristics of VR as a medium are, to discover what stories can be told using AR/VR/MR and to recognise how these stories remain connected to the real world. The expert group consisting of international experts on the field of new media, storytelling and cultural heritage created and assessed a list concerning five topics: 21 cases of media – what kinds of media support the AR/VR/MR experience, 18 cases of interactivity – how can content connect to the user, 31 cases of storytelling – how do we connect content pieces between them and to the general message, 12 cases of meaningful content vs. the real world – how does content connect to the real world and 7 cases of media characteristics – how can we define VR as a medium.

WG2.2 has the following scope and objectives:

  • to find out what the characteristics of VR as a medium are,
  • to discover what stories can be told using VR,
  • to recognise how these stories remain connected to the real world.

To achieve this, the expert group consisting of 6 international experts on the field of new media, storytelling and cultural heritage created and assessed a list concerning five topics.

These are:

  • media (what kinds of media support the VR experience?)
  • interactivity (how can content connect to the user?)
  • storytelling (how do we connect pieces content between them and to the general message?)
  • meaningful content vs. the real world (how does content connect to the real world?)
  • media characteristics (how can we define VR as a medium?)

A model for storytelling starts with a clear over-tour, which could be possible to approach online or on-site. An over-tour should start with a good story hook, effective and catchy; shocking, interesting and emotional. Giving an initial information through “one door” to invite users and motivate them to go further. A museum should be able to offer a knowledge of museum contents to touch the interest of visitors. It is possible to have more then one door to enter VR. Starting with a basic story entrance, several key points should open into several parallel stories. Such flexible approaches to non-linear stories lead to hyper stories, where a visitor can be immersed. A visitor is following or better discovering different stories which could lead one into another as a kind of labyrinth and learning by going through different paths, researching different information. The VR stage is actually a theater stage where a visitor is aloud to enter and to interact with objects and characters on the stage. Different stages have different stories or one story could be told through different stages/spaces. Easily and clearly defined main characters should appear and clearly visible narrative arcs should lead a visitor through a fable, a myth, a plot, a moral, a drama or a genre. At the end are several exit locations with different messages provided by museum experts. There is no one type of visitor, that’s why storytelling should be respective to different types of visitors, with different backgrounds and ages, non-motivated visitors and others.

More:

http://www.kibla.org/fileadmin/kibla/Kibela/2018/ViMM/VIMM_TA2_WG2_2_Outcome.pdf