Intro

After researching and critiquing the existing library of narrative VR experiences (360 and interactive), the team came up with three key questions that haven’t been fully addressed to date:

• How can we not only elicit empathy but teach it?

• How do we evolve character development beyond techniques in existing mediums?

• Given the constraints of current VR technology, how can the user convey real human behavior?

From this, we came up with the following design principles:

• The user must play an active role in the story

• The user must be able to communicate to the characters

• The user’s actions must elicit emotional responses from the characters

• The user must discover who he/she is

• The user’s action is required to unravel the story

Story Design

In a world where magic is increasingly forbidden, a cryptic figure known only as The Avaloki awakens to aid two siblings in search of their exiled father.

Users embody The Avaloki in this interactive VR narrative: the first installment of an episodic series. On their journey, users invoke memories unearthing the children’s past, while dangling hints about their missing father’s whereabouts.

Non-Linearity

To increase immersion for the audience, a key component of Avaloki is the ability to unfold the narrative in any order they choose. This further breaks the experience away from traditional linear storytelling methods and brings light to actively participative art.

Photogrammetry

We chose a cave in the Red Rock Canyon State Park in California for its open top. We then used RealityCapture to stitch together hundreds of DSLR photos with depth data output and render a photorealistic cave with its textures.

Tilt Brush

3D painting provides the perfect opportunity to showcase a different visual language within the predominantly 3D art style of the film. As proved by Dear Angelica, its form is powerful in representing memories through its static yet immersive framing.

Reactive Animation

Avaloki is built on Unity 2017’s new Timeline feature, which opens the floodgates to interactive cinematic content. Through a mixture of carefully edited animations, sounds, and mechanics in Timeline mixed with procedural techniques, we hope to hive the user the feeling he/she is truly a part of the story.