Virtual Reality Interactive Narratives in Transmedia Cultural Heritage Experiences

Abstract

While tangible cultural heritage is physically bound to a space and time, intangible cultural heritage may be undressed of its meaning if separated from the tangible cultural space where it originates (Bouchenaki, 2003). Meanwhile, the need for digital accessibility increases as cultural heritage becomes inaccessible due to preservation (Trizio et al., 2019), natural (Spennemann & Graham, 2007) or human disasters (Al Azm, 2015; Ferreira, 2019), or worldwide travel limitations (Samaroudi et al., 2020). But while the digitalization of tangible cultural heritage has served its purpose of reconciling preservation and digital accessibility, it may now serve as foundation for intangible cultural heritage, as audiences seek ‘the experiential aspect of cultural heritage’ (Ch’ng et al., 2018, p. v). Experiences become more immersive when they are not limited to a single medium but use multiple delivery channels to surround the viewer with content, such as in Transmedia Storytelling (Jenkins, 2006). In Cultural Heritage, Transmedia Storytelling can be seen in Augmented Reality enhanced children’s book series (Holloway-Attaway & Vipsjö, 2020) while Basaraba (2020) studied its use to expand IDN systems by remixing existing cultural heritage narratives into an interactive documentary (iDoc).