Why Virtual Reality Design Needs Empathetic Storytelling
The idea of technology bringing about a dehumanizing dystopia is not all that unfamiliar and pervades major artefacts of culture (books, films, and general discourse) of the past century. The reaction to Zuckerberg’s “journey” to Puerto Rico shows that virtual proximity does not always bring us emotionally closer, and that people can clearly feel the emotional void in virtual spaces. While technology designers could compensate by introducing emojis and facial expressions to fill the emotional gap of the technological experience, marketers can battle the dehumanizing image of technology by telling the story of VR as a true emotional enabler.
Problem Identification: Which fundamental issues does the VR-experience seek to address?
Zayden’s Journey: How do we bring a child with a serious heart condition into outer-space?
Story Mapping: Designing a cohesive and compelling story arc to address the protaganist’s objectives
Zayden’s Journey: Zayden’s vision of outer space combined with expert consultation brought his wish to life
Emotional Journey: Eliciting emotional responses throughout the story arc, building up to a new perspective
Zayden’s Journey: From adversity to accomplishment; Travelling through space, Interacting with aliens, Landing on Saturn.
Enactment/Participation: Designing the tools (technological & narrative) that enable the user to participate
Zayden’s Journey: Underwent training; Interactions with spaceship and aliens, Spacesuit and Equipment.
Transformation/Metamorphosis: Inspiring a transformational change whereby the hero returns from his journey a new person.
Zayden’s Journey: Zayden returned from his journey a triumphant astronaut; he had travelled the cosmos and lived out his dreams.
See the full story here: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/why-virtual-reality-design-needs-empathetic-storytelling_us_5a1dcbcbe4b0218d7252daf1