XR Narratives

Overview

XR Narratives is a research project focused on storytelling and narrative design within immersive environments. The goal is to explore how narrative structures evolve when users are placed inside spatial, interactive, and non-linear story worlds.

The project investigates narrative as an experiential system rather than a linear sequence of events.

Research Focus

The research explores several key dimensions:

• Spatial storytelling and environmental narrative cues
• Non-linear and branching narrative structures
• Player agency and narrative consequence
• Temporal manipulation in immersive stories

Special attention is given to how immersion changes the perception of pacing, tension, and narrative coherence.

Narrative Systems

Narrative logic is built using:

• Unity As the real-time engine for world-building, interaction, and narrative state management.

• Ink For flexible branching dialogue, narrative conditions, and story flow control.

The combination allows narrative states to react dynamically to user actions and spatial context.

Experiments

Experiments conducted include:

• Branching storylines triggered by spatial interaction
• Environmental storytelling without explicit text or dialogue
• Narrative pacing driven by exploration rather than progression
• Hybrid linear / emergent narrative structures

Prototype experiences were tested in both VR and AR configurations.

Machine Learning Exploration

An experimental layer explores the use of machine learning to:

• Adapt narrative content to user behavior
• Modify pacing based on engagement signals
• Support procedural narrative variations

These explorations remain intentionally constrained to preserve authorial intent.

Observations

Key insights include:

• Immersion amplifies narrative impact but increases design complexity
• Spatial narratives require careful control of player attention
• Too much freedom can weaken narrative clarity

Balancing agency and authored structure is a central challenge.

Applications

Potential applications include:

• Immersive storytelling experiences and games
• Cultural heritage and educational XR content
• Interactive documentaries
• Training and simulation narratives

Next Steps

Future work will focus on:

• Multi-user narrative synchronization
• AI-assisted narrative adaptation
• Narrative design tools for XR authors
• Evaluation frameworks for immersive storytelling quality

XR Narratives continues as an exploration of how stories behave when space, presence, and agency become first-class narrative elements.