Publications

Interactive storytelling in virtual reality is an emerging form of media that fundamentally transforms how stories are experienced. Unlike traditional formats such as film or literature, virtual reality grants users the freedom to look around and explore the environment from any angle, creating an enhanced sense of presence and immersion. However, this increased agency also presents new challenges for narrative design: users may miss key story events because their attention is not directed in the same way as in non-interactive media. Virtual reality narratives require new approaches to staging in order to fully engage users and effectively convey emotional content. This project presents a virtual environment designed to test out cues for interactive storytelling to make the user more engaged with a story. The aim is to study how authors can help viewers engage in the story and feel the emotions conveyed, notably by using various cues in the environment (sounds, light, behaviors). This demo presents the first tested cue, the gradual appearance of a crowd of virtual agents, to encourage viewer engagement during moments of dramatic tension.

Mots-clés : VR StorytellingVirtual CrowdsVR environmentInteractive StorytellingVirtual Reality

@inproceedings{paton:hal-05312336,
  TITLE = {{An Experimental Environment for Narrative Cue Evaluation in Virtual Reality}},
  AUTHOR = {Paton, Gwendal and Bosser, Anne-Gwenn and Ravenet, Brian and Le Bigot, Nathalie},
  URL = {https://hal.science/hal-05312336},
  BOOKTITLE = {{IVA '25: Proceedings of the 25th ACM International Conference on Intelligent Virtual Agents}},
  ADDRESS = {Berlin, Germany},
  ORGANIZATION = {{ACM}},
  PUBLISHER = {{ACM}},
  SERIES = {IVA '25: Proceedings of the 25th ACM International Conference on Intelligent Virtual Agents},
  PAGES = {1-3},
  YEAR = {2025},
  MONTH = Sep,
  DOI = {10.1145/3717511.3749292},
  KEYWORDS = {VR Storytelling ; Virtual Crowds ; VR environment ; Interactive Storytelling ; Virtual Reality},
  PDF = {https://hal.science/hal-05312336v1/file/Atmospheres_IVA_2025-2.pdf},
  HAL_ID = {hal-05312336},
  HAL_VERSION = {v1},
}

Storytelling in virtual reality (VR) offers users freedom to explore narratives from any perspective, enhancing immersion but risking that some story elements may be overlooked. This study examines how dynamically increasing virtual crowd density during moments of dramatic tension can be used as a cue to sustain narrative engagement. Participants experience a VR murder mystery where the crowd size grows in sync with the story's tension. This research aims to validate crowd density as an environmental cue for maintaining user attention and emotional involvement in VR narratives, contributing to the development of affective design principles for immersive storytelling systems.

Mots-clés : Socially Interactive AgentVR storytellingVR immersive systemsVirtual CrowdVirtual Reality

@misc{paton:hal-05312325,
  TITLE = {{Enhancing Narrative Engagement Through Virtual Crowd Modulation in VR Storytelling}},
  AUTHOR = {Paton, Gwendal and Bosser, Anne-Gwenn and Ravenet, Brian and Le Bigot, Nathalie},
  URL = {https://hal.science/hal-05312325},
  NOTE = {Poster},
  HOWPUBLISHED = {{IVA 2025 - 25th ACM International Conference on Intelligent Virtual Agents}},
  ORGANIZATION = {{ACM}},
  PUBLISHER = {{ACM}},
  PAGES = {1 - 5},
  YEAR = {2025},
  MONTH = Sep,
  DOI = {10.1145/3717511.3749307},
  KEYWORDS = {Socially Interactive Agent ; VR storytelling ; VR immersive systems ; Virtual Crowd ; Virtual Reality},
  PDF = {https://hal.science/hal-05312325v1/file/3717511.3749307.pdf},
  HAL_ID = {hal-05312325},
  HAL_VERSION = {v1},
}

La réalité virtuelle est un nouveau moyen de raconter des histoires, le spectateur se retrouve immergé dans le monde du récit et peut interagir avec celui-ci. L'émergence de ce nouveau média nous amène à nous poser la question : Comment les récits en réalité virtuelle soutiennent-ils la tension narrative ? Étant donné que la réalité virtuelle est un domaine encore assez nouveau, il n'existe à notre connaissance aucun moyen de s'assurer que le spectateur ressente une tension narrative cohérente avec celle que le récit est censé générer. Dans notre travail, nous souhaitons mettre au point un modèle computationnel capable d'adapter l'environnement ainsi que le comportement des agents virtuels entourant les avatars des spectateurs afin de faire ressentir à nos spectateurs la tension narrative adaptée. Dans cet article, nous allons donc présenter la base de notre modèle ainsi que les prochaines étapes de sa mise en place.

Mots-clés : Tension NarrativeAgents VirtuelsNarration InteractiveRéalité Virtuelle

@inproceedings{paton:hal-04716747,
  TITLE = {{Soutenir la Tension Narrative dans un R{\'e}cit Interactif en R{\'e}alit{\'e} Virtuelle}},
  AUTHOR = {Paton, Gwendal and Bosser, Anne-Gwenn and Ravenet, Brian and Le Bigot, Nathalie},
  URL = {https://hal.science/hal-04716747},
  BOOKTITLE = {{WACAI 2024 - Workshop sur les ``Affects, Compagnons Artificiels et Interactions'' (ACAI)}},
  ADDRESS = {Bordeaux, France},
  ORGANIZATION = {{ACAI}},
  YEAR = {2024},
  MONTH = Jun,
  KEYWORDS = {Tension Narrative ; Agents Virtuels ; Narration Interactive ; R{\'e}alit{\'e} Virtuelle},
  PDF = {https://hal.science/hal-04716747v1/file/Article_WACAI_24%20%282%29.pdf},
  HAL_ID = {hal-04716747},
  HAL_VERSION = {v1},
}