Narrative Affordances of Scale in VR: Remediating Traditional Iranian Storytelling

Virtual Reality is turning into a major and more accessible medium to spatial, interactive and linear narrators, aka architects, game designers and filmmakers. This research-creation is conducted with two main objectives: first, to investigate the unique narrative possibilities that VR affords as a result of its specific perceptual cues of scale. Second, to utilize the notion of scale in designing a remediated experience of a traditional screen-based form of storytelling in the Iranian culture known as Pardeh-Khani (literally translated as: reading off curtain/screen). In response to the first objective, possible ways that scale could leverage three distinct forms of immersion in VR were scrutinized under three isolated experiments. Also a broad range of VR and non-VR cases, from cinematic to fully interactive games which revolve around the idea of scale were studied. The key takeaway was that exploiting a dynamic scale of virtual embodiment could lead to spatial experiences, gameplay mechanics and cinematic communications particular to VR. Following the second objective, M.C Escher’s Relativity (1953) became a key inspirational source for designing an impossible architecture which incorporates a malleable scale of embodiment but also hosts the spatiotemporal ritual of Pardeh-Khani. The challenges of and possible solutions for designing the navigational structure of a surreal spatial experience in a room-scale VR are discussed in detail. This research-creation explores the medium-specificities of VR with a multidisciplinary approach from one side. From the other side, it raises the awareness about a marginalized tradition of storytelling through the lens of cutting-edge technology of VR