VR & Empathy - Ava Garcia

Virtual or augmented reality is a form of immersive technology that allows the interactor to feel like they are inside a video or game. These forms can be used to create pieces of interactive film, gaming, poetry, or interactive narratives that can merge digital literature, video, and live performance. VR and augmented reality is newer in the field of electronic literature but is already making massive advances in the last year. I liked how Rettberg described VR and augmented reality to be an experience that allows the interactor to feel like they are having an out-of-body experience of being removed from their body and transported into another body or world. 


https://collection.eliterature.org/2/works/wardrip-fruin_screen.html


Screen by Noah Waardrip-Fruin and other authors is a piece that is created in a CAVE environment which is a cave automatic virtual environment. As Screen begins, words appear and cover three screens and are spoken aloud. On each wall, a different text describes a double moment in time (a woman or man remembering and feeling a memory slip away). The text being read describes intimate memories the two of them shared. The reading of these texts concludes with the spoken line “We hold ourselves in place by memories” before the state of the work changes. The memories then begin to slip down the walls and the interactor can try to catch the words and can try to force them back into place. However, before too long the words begin to collide and fracture as the interior losses control. Screen is a piece of VR that immerses the user in a reflexive literary representation in which words and narratives remain predominant.  

Comments

  1. Dr. MApril 10, 2023 at 8:13 AM

    Screen and other early immersive CAVE experiences (out of Brown University) were really paving the way for the immersive nature of VR. And, yes, it's hard to keep up with the technology, it changes so quickly! But so many opportunities for immersive storytelling!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hannah S.April 10, 2023 at 10:00 AM

    That is a beautiful last line and it seems like a very interesting project. I can't wait to hear more about it in class!

    ReplyDelete

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