Narrative Affordances of Scale in VR: Remediating Traditional Iranian Storytelling Seyed Moslem Tabatabaei A Thesis in The Department of Design and Computation Arts Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of Master of Design at Concordia University Montréal, Québec, Canada November 2020 © Seyed Moslem Tabatabaei, 2020 I CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY School of Graduate Studies This is to certify that the thesis prepared By: Seyed Moslem Tabatabaei Entitled: Narrative Affordances of Scale in VR: Remediating Traditional Iranian Storytelling and submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Design complies with the regulations of the University and meets the accepted standards with respect to originality and quality. Signed by the final examining committee: ______________________________________ Examiner Dr. Pippin Bar ______________________________________ Examiner Dr. Rilla Khaled ______________________________________ Thesis Supervisor Dr. Jonathan Lessard Approved by ______________________________________ Dr. Martin Racine, Graduate Program Director ______________________________________ Dr. Annie Gérin, Dean, Dean, Faculty of fine arts Date: 9 December 2020 II Abstract Narrative Affordances of Scale in VR: Remediating Traditional Iranian Storytelling Seyed Moslem Tabatabaei Virtual Reality is turning into a major and more accessible medium to spatial, interactive and linear narrators, aka architects, game designers and filmmakers. This research-creation is conducted with two main objectives: first, to investigate the unique narrative possibilities that VR affords as a result of its specific perceptual cues of scale. Second, to utilize the notion of scale in designing a remediated experience of a traditional screen-based form of storytelling in the Iranian culture known as Pardeh-Khani (literally translated as: reading off curtain/screen). In response to the first objective, possible ways that scale could leverage three distinct forms of immersion in VR were scrutinized under three isolated experiments. Also a broad range of VR and non-VR cases, from cinematic to fully interactive games which revolve around the idea of scale were studied. The key takeaway was that exploiting a dynamic scale of virtual embodiment could lead to spatial experiences, gameplay mechanics and cinematic communications particular to VR. Following the second objective, M.C Escher’s Relativity (1953) became a key inspirational source for designing an impossible architecture which incorporates a malleable scale of embodiment but also hosts the spatiotemporal ritual of Pardeh-Khani. The challenges of and possible solutions for designing the navigational structure of a surreal spatial experience in a room-scale VR are discussed in detail. This research-creation explores the medium-specificities of VR with a multidisciplinary approach from one side. From the other side, it raises the awareness about a marginalized tradition of storytelling through the lens of cutting-edge technology of VR. Keywords: Virtual Reality, Immersion, Scale, Virtual Embodiment, Remediation, Pardeh-Khani, Traditional Storytelling, Spatial Narrative, M.C. Escher III Acknowledgments I would like to first thank my supervisor Dr. Jonathan Lessard who consistently supported me throughout this academic journey with his insightful and thorough feedback on both research and creation parts of the project. I would also like to thank two other members of the Thesis Advisory Committee, Dr. Pippin Barr and Dr. Rilla Khaled for providing constructive criticism and fruitful conversations on the defence day as well as many other occasions in the past few years. I wish to thank all other members from the Department of Design and Computation Arts, especially the Graduate Program Director Dr. Martin Racine who most importantly eased my academic integration into the Master of Design Program. This project won the Hexagram Student Members Grant in 2018 and the monetary award greatly advanced bringing a number of collaborators on board in a professional fashion. I would like to thank Maryam Tabatabaei who helped me create the artworks, and Mahdi Sadri and Gerald Alvarez who assisted me in addressing the technical challenges of the project. I wish to express my deepest gratitude to members of the Sensor Lab especially Elio Bidinost and members of the Milieux institute especially Marc Beaulieu who generously provided me with technical support and facilities along the way. Thank you to members of Technoculture, Art and Games (TAG) especially Enric Llagostera for playtesting different iterations and sharing thought-provoking ideas. I would also like to recognize the support of the Teaching and Research Librarian John Latour from the Faculty of Fine Arts who kindly supplied me with some of the key literature I needed for this research. Thank you to my colleagues, family and friends whose supportive presence boosted my motivation especially in difficult times. Thank you to Saeed Alvandi, Ali Azizi, Lupe Pérez, Patil Tchilinguirian and Joe Thibodeau for sharing invaluable thoughts and positive vibes. Most importantly, thank you to my patient wife Simin Farrokh Ahmadi. Without her constant encouragement and professional support, this academic quest would have been impossible. IV Table of Contents List of Figures ............................................................................................................................................ VI Chapter 1 | Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 1 Chapter 2 | Question of Scale ..................................................................................................................... 4 Scale in Screen-Based Games (Non-VR) .................................................................................................. 6 Chapter 3 | Scale in VR ............................................................................................................................ 10 SCI Model of Immersion ......................................................................................................................... 13 Scale and Sensory Immersion 15 Experiment 1: PlanetS | Size Differences ....................................................................................... 15 Scale and Challenge-based Immersion 18 Scale of surrounding entities ........................................................................................................... 19 Scale of the player's virtual embodiment ........................................................................................ 21 Scale and Imaginative Immersion 27 Static Characters in Spatial Narratives ............................................................................................ 27 Moving characters in Linear Narratives (Cinematic VR) ............................................................... 29 Player/Non-Player characters in Interactive Narratives (VR Games) ............................................. 34 Chapter 4 | Remediation of Pardeh-Khani (7Pardeh) ........................................................................... 37 Exploration of Iranian Historical/Cultural Facets ................................................................................. 37 Qahveh-Khaneh (traditional coffeehouse) 39 Pardeh-Khani 40 1st Iteration: Typical Qahveh-Khaneh ................................................................................................... 42 M.C. Escher 46 2nd Iteration: Escheresque Qahveh-Khaneh .......................................................................................... 48 Navigation mechanics ............................................................................................................................. 50 Honing the Rules and Restrictions 51 Playtests 54 Revisions of the Navigation Mechanics 57 Temporal Structure ................................................................................................................................. 60 Shahnameh: Story of Haft Khan_e Rostam 61 Development of the 2D Artworks 62 Development of the 3D Artworks 65 Interaction with Pardeh 68 Remaining Steps: Performance of the Naqqāl and Other Agencies 71 Chapter 5 | Conclusion ............................................................................................................................. 73 V List of Figures Fig 1. Ebbinghaus Illusion ............................................................................................................................................. 4 Fig 2. Scale (Good Job Games, 2017) ........................................................................................................................... 6 Fig 3. Stack (Ketchapp, 2016) ....................................................................................................................................... 6 Fig 4. Superliminal (Pillow Castle, 2019) ..................................................................................................................... 9 Fig 5. Experiment 1: PlanetS. ...................................................................................................................................... 15 Fig 6. SPHERES (Eliza McNitt, 2018) ........................................................................................................................ 17 Fig 7. Liquid Perceptions (Milieux Immersive Reality Lab, 2019) ............................................................................