The questions I seek to answer...
There are a number of different aspects to this project, but the below are the central questions I am seeking to answer:
- Can traditional spoken word narratives be successfully adapted to a VR medium? What are the challenges?
- How do you move the narrator to a diegetic element of the story whilst balancing engagement with the story / storyteller and the world in which the story exists?
- Where the user is more than an “observer passive” can the balance be maintained, or will this derail the storytelling elements / narrative?
- Can AI voice cloning and voice synthesis solutions be used effectively when presenting spoken word stories in VR?
- When dealing with older audio recordings, not intended for the medium of VR, what are the challenges in adapting these recordings to the VR medium or adapting the VR medium (e.g. visual presentation) to “fit” with the audio.
- Is it possible to generate deeper audience engagement with, and understanding of, such stories (the subject matter) through the medium of VR?
- Can one build diegetic navigation between related stories that enables contextualisation of the stories (as a network of related stories) whilst maintaining immersion?
- Who is the potential audience for spoken word stories (particularly pertaining to myth and legends) in VR?
- Can presentation of indigenous spoken words stories in VR further the voices and understanding of indigenous communities and different cultures?
- In relation to audio based / spoken word stories, what does the medium of VR offer? What is the potential?
