Giving the participant more freedom to roam and explore also meant that the progression of the VR experience would depend more on the motivation of the participant. If the participant didn’t feel like exploring, everything would just stop. The companion could help by suggesting movement.

Study the description of Concept 2 “The Forest” under the cloche on the kitchen table.

Reflections on Concept 2

Replacing volumetric capture with animation and creating a more active role for the participant resolved some of the challenges identified in Concept 1, but still did not remove the challenge of control over the details and information. Even voiceovers contain tone of voice and accents.

Information about the child and the parents would have to include some specifics about the conflict. Having to stand passively while listening to voiceovers with information would also run the risk of the participant losing focus and zoning out. I did not want to provide the opportunity for such a cooling off of emotional intensity but wanted the experience to remain relevant and personal the whole time. I concluded that I needed to find a better way to exclude potentially misleading information.

Although The Forest gave the participant some agency, this was focused on choosing where to go. This was not the kind of meaningful interaction that I had been able to create in the mobile game. I also started thinking about the challenge of the human gaze as being one of choice. Adults choose to look at children and see the enemies. A participant chooses how to interact. These are part of the same human decision-making process. To mirror the topic more efficiently, the interactions would have to be more ethically challenging and present the core topic of objectification.

Finally, I concluded that the idea of contents spread out in a landscape offered too litter incentive to explore, even with an encouraging companion. The landscape offers no quests or challenges to motivate the participant, and there is consequently a significant risk of losing the participant’s attention and interest.