Make VR Experiences & Storytelling more immersive! Add Full-Body Avatars for better embodiment & UX!
Here's why UX and Embodiment are so important for better storytelling and Immersive experiences in VR! Recently, I've finished Peaky Blinders: The King's Ransom (VR experience), but got disappointed even as a fan of this TV show who waited for this game for so long. Why? Despite the great story-telling and a decent graphics (that runs well on the Meta Quest 2) it has some issues, the biggest one is - not having arms and a full body, which could turn this VR storytelling into a fully immersive experience!
Few days after I finished Peaky Blinders, I joined Ghosts of Tabor's Beta version, and I was even more convinced that Full Body avatars make your brain feel like you are really in the experience (Simulation? Matrix?). So, I made a short video to express my position (which I wrote about in the past). In order to tell a good and immersive story (which is what Peaky Blinders VR is trying to do), VR Creators, Designers and Developers must include a full body for our avatars in their games, apps, and experiences.
Full body avatar helps with Maximum immersion, and it makes you actually feel like you are in a virtual world (not only in games, but also in other apps and experiences I've tried - Education, Healthcare, Defense, etc.
"Floating" hands or gloves? For me, it always breaks immersion! People laughed at Meta's "Horizon Worlds" because their Avatars look creepy for not having legs in Meta's own "Metaverse" app. But, imagine looking down only to discover that you have no body!!!
But since Peaky Blinders VR is trying to be an immersive storytelling experience (it's not a challenging game, even the action scenes are slightly interactive) it's particularly funny (and even ridiculous) in the most dramatic scene, when you find yourself tied to a chair while being tortured, Because, when you look down, you see that what's tied to the chair is actually your gloves (without an arm).
I don't understand why some XR creators and developers still insist to not include a full body avatars in VR, when there are already so many best-practices and case studies with successful VR titles that have proven that it is possible, despite the limitations of IK (Inverse Kinematics, which once was a real challenge). Successful games such as Boneworks, Bonelab, Contractors, Echo VR, Lone Echo, VRchat, etc. proofed that a full body in VR / Metaverse experiences adds to maximum immersion and embodying.
Try to stab yourself in different body parts while you are on Bonelab, put your hand in a fire, or shoot your arm and legs, your brain will be tricked and you might even feel a Phantom Pain (I'll link a cool experiment to demonstrate that). Agree / Disagree? Let me know why. And if you've got some data (experiments, psychological research) about this topic, please feel free to comment and share. Thanks!
#VR #XR #MR #AR #Gaming #immersive #embodiment #simulation #Matrix #Fun #storytelling