Narrative Transportation and Virtual Reality: Exploring the Immersive Qualities of Social Justice in the Digital World
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University of Central Florida STARS Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019 2018 Narrative Transportation and Virtual Reality: Exploring the Immersive Qualities of Social Justice in the Digital World Sara Raffel University of Central Florida Part of the Interactive Arts Commons Find similar works at: https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd University of Central Florida Libraries http://library.ucf.edu This Doctoral Dissertation (Open Access) is brought to you for free and open access by STARS. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019 by an authorized administrator of STARS. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STARS Citation Raffel, Sara, "Narrative Transportation and Virtual Reality: Exploring the Immersive Qualities of Social Justice in the Digital World" (2018). Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019. 5800. https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd/5800 NARRATIVE TRANSPORTATION AND VIRTUAL REALITY: EXPLORING THE IMMERSIVE QUALITIES OF SOCIAL JUSTICE STORIES IN THE DIGITAL WORLD by SARA ELIZABETH RAFFEL B.A. Hunter College, 2005 M.Phil. Trinity College, 2012 A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Texts and Technology in the College of Arts and Humanities at the University of Central Florida Orlando, Florida Spring Term 2018 Major Professor: T. Rudy McDaniel © 2018 Sara Raffel ii ABSTRACT This dissertation explores the potential applications for virtual reality (VR) stories in support of social justice causes, examining whether digital games historically been successfully leveraged for social justice purposes, and determining which components of VR technology can most encourage narrative transportation of participants in VR stories. The first chapter examines theories of simulation, virtual reality, narrative, and interactivity, as well as concepts of immersion from various disciplines and settles on narrative transportation, a theory from cognitive psychology, as the most useful in measuring the effect of VR stories on participants. The second chapter examines ethnographic practices, activist games, and modes of reclaiming digital spaces as a way to encourage digital social justice and ensure traditionally marginalized communities have meaningful access to technology—or, the tools to use it, create with it, and critique it. The third chapter presents the result of a play study conducted to measure participants’ transporation in a recent VR narrative and finds VR interactive narratives to be more transportive and engaging than their two-dimensional counterparts. The fourth chapter interrogates some of the fears of VR technology, namely that it will be used to further current societal injustices and as a potentially powerful propaganda tool. The final chapter presents five recommendations for designers seeking to experiment in virtual reality narratives. The ultimate aim of this work is to encourage scholars, designers, and participants to make ethical decisions in the creation and use of virtual societies. iii To my family and friends. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am grateful to my supervisor, Dr. Rudy McDaniel, and dissertation committee, Dr. Natasha Jones, Dr. Anastasia Salter, and Dr. Jill Walker Rettberg, for their expertise and encouragement throughout the writing process. Without their willingness to provide thoughtful feedback and guidance, this dissertation would not have been possible. I would also like to thank my husband, Thaddeus Baumann, for his patience during many late nights and early mornings spent writing, as well as all of my family and friends for their support and understanding throughout my academic career. Thanks, in particular to my parents, Lynn and Kim Raffel; my sister, Kelsey Raffel; my Irish sister, Grace Cameron; and the stellar women of the Nerdy Girls Book Club, who forced me to keep up with my non- academic reading. Thank you, also, to the staff and faculty in the Texts and Technology Ph.D. program for providing support throughout exams and coursework, particularly Patty Hurter, without whom I would have been lost many times over. Finally, I am thankful for my friends and colleagues in the Texts and Technology Ph.D. program at UCF, all of whom were willing to provide helpful feedback on ideas and concepts. Thank you in particular to the members of the Sad Luck Club, who were always willing to support both my productivity and well-being. v TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................................................. ix LIST OF TABLES .................................................................................................................... xi CHAPTER ONE: INTERACTIVITY AND VIRTUAL REALITY: TOWARD A FRAMEWORK OF EXPRESSIVE NARRATIVES IN THE DIGITAL WORLD ................. 1 Introduction: Why Don’t We Tell Interactive Stories in Virtual Reality? ..................... 1 How the Ludology and Narratology Binary Affects the VR Conversation ................... 5 Virtual Reality Is Dramatic Simulation ......................................................................... 9 Virtual Reality Narrative Games Transport the Participant ......................................... 24 The Dream and Failure of Virtual Reality Narratives and Games ............................... 31 CHAPTER TWO: DIGITAL SOCIAL JUSTICE: LEVERAGING CRITICAL DESIGN TO TELL DIVERSE STORIES ..................................................................................................... 38 Social Justice in the Digital World .............................................................................. 39 Reclaiming Digital Territory for Social Justice ........................................................... 44 Code as Regulatory and Filtering ................................................................................ 47 Virtual Ethnography for Social Justice ........................................................................ 51 Social Justice Through Digital Games ......................................................................... 57 vi Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 64 CHAPTER THREE: DOES TRANSPORTATION CHANGE MINDS? A STUDY OF THE PSYCHOLOGICAL IMPACT OF VIRTUAL REALITY NARRATIVES ON SOCIAL JUSTICE ISSUES .................................................................................................................... 66 Virtual Reality and Narrative Transportation: Why Does It Matter? .......................... 66 Play Study Methodology.............................................................................................. 72 Study Limitations ......................................................................................................... 82 Study Results ............................................................................................................... 83 Conclusions and Recommendations .......................................................................... 102 CHAPTER FOUR: PROBLEMS AND CONSTRAINTS: WILL WE USE NEW TECHNOLOGY TO TELL THE SAME DOMINANT STORIES? .................................... 107 Virtual Reality Delivers Old Morality in a New Medium ......................................... 108 VR and its Potential for Activist Texts ...................................................................... 116 Hopes of VR Narrative Games .................................................................................. 122 Conclusion ................................................................................................................. 123 CHAPTER FIVE: VIRTUAL REALITY DESIGN RECOMMENDATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH ..................................................................... 125 Five Recommendations for Narrative Design in Virtual Reality ............................... 125 vii Concluding Thoughts ................................................................................................. 134 APPENDIX: IRB APPROVAL OF HUMAN RESEARCH LETTER ................................. 136 LIST OF REFERENCES ....................................................................................................... 139 viii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Review of immersion-related terms by Roth and Koenitz. ...................................... 28 Figure 2. Participants' responses to story-specific belief questions about their feelings of safety in America. .................................................................................................................... 85 Figure 3. Participants' responses to story-specific belief questions about government information. .............................................................................................................................. 86 Figure 4. Participants' responses to story-specific belief questions about the citizens' rights to intelligence information. .......................................................................................................... 87 Figure 5. Participants' responses to just-world survey questions about the general amount of justice in the world. .................................................................................................................. 88 Figure 6. Participants' responses to just-world survey questions about whether people deserve what they get. ..........................................................................................................................