Experience Type: Immersive Storytelling in VR
Role: Author, XR Designer, Production Artist & Developer
Platform: PC-VR
Game Engine: Unreal Engine 4.27
Additional Tools: Blender 2.8, Adobe Photoshop, ElevenLabs, Audacity
At the Threshold of the Afterlife is an immersive and interactive narrative experience in Virtual Reality that tells the story of a departed soul's journey from death into the afterlife. The narrative is experienced from the first-person perspective with the user embodying the departed and interacting with the environment first-hand to progress through the story. The project developed as a means of experimenting with storytelling techniques in XR, where the audience is no longer a spectator but rather, an active participant in the story, creating a more engaging experience.
The prototype was developed using Unreal Engine 4.27 and showcased using the Meta Quest 2 VR headset.
IDEATION
"Interpreting the Intermediate State as a Physical Liminal Space."
The narrative was the outcome of extensive research on the intermediate state, an in-between state where the departed exist before being sent into the afterlife. Certain religions namely, Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism have different interpretations of the intermediate state, with some perceiving it as a space to reflect, face judgement, and atone for one's past deeds. Along with the research done on the intermediate state, the concept of liminality and physical liminal spaces was also researched to understand its spatial quality and atmosphere, serving as a guide for the design and general aesthetic of the intermediate state portrayed in the experience.
Above: The art direction and set design of The Shining (1980) is regarded as an example of physical liminal space and served as an inspiration for the aesthetic of the virtual environments in the experience.
From a visual perspective, the goal of the project was to create an atmosphere that feels surreal and dreamlike while creating a sense of uneasiness in the mind of the user. In addition to studying images and films featuring liminal spaces, video games such as Playdead's INSIDE and What Remains of Edith Finch were also used as references for the art direction of the experience.
Above: A still from Playdead's INSIDE.
"Accessible gameplay mechanics for a seamless experience."
Concerning gameplay and overall user experience, the mechanics were designed to be simple and accessible, allowing users to focus on the narrative while comfortably navigating through the spaces.
Above: As part of the narrative and underlying concept, the experience prompts the user to interact with specific objects in the space, each one tethered to a particular event from the departed's past life. In the experience, the intermediate state is interpreted as the departed's childhood home that morphs to recreate the event when the object tethered to its memory is interacted with.
DEVELOPMENT
"Creating a stable, interactive prototype without compromising on the aesthetics."
The art direction of the experience demanded the use of computationally expensive visual effects that are generally incompatible with Virtual Reality experiences. Hence, in addition to the general steps taken to optimize the virtual environment and its respective components for VR, low-cost alternatives to effects like atmospheric fog and particle systems were used, ensuring the final prototype retained the original aesthetic.
Above: Atmospheric fog and the God rays with dust particles shown in the video were faked using shaders that mimicked the effect. The material that mimicked the God rays was projected onto a series of planar surfaces and the fog material was assigned to the post-process volume, thus extending its influence across a specific region in the level.
"Using Generative AI to synthesize believable voice-overs for the characters."
As a low-budget project with speaking characters, it was necessary to find an economic means of generating natural-sounding and believable voice-overs for the characters to drive the narrative forward. ElevenLabs, an online generative AI tool to convert text to speech was used, creating unique and realistic voices for all the characters in the story.
FINAL THOUGHTS
The project's completion represented my initial foray into immersive storytelling. I explored various narrative techniques and interactive elements to craft an artifact that invites users to actively participate in the story, rather than passively observe it.