The concept we arrived to is Surrealism. Ben suggested that we use it not only as an aesthetic, but as a concept in itself.
Arriving at a concept proved pretty difficult during our first meetings. We all seemed to be in different places and have different expectations of what a VR experience could be. In our first meeting we agreed to create a Miro board where we could all create a mood board of our intentions and ideas. This was helpful to gain an insight into everyone’s thoughts. Having group members who are more experienced with video games share their inspirations was also very helpful as it made the research process easier. Ben and Hanifa were quite knowledgeable on the matter and brought a lot of great references.
The aesthetic became clear pretty quickly as the Miro moodboard grew. So did the strong inclination towards the classic game format. Although this is not what my personal intentions were initially, this form would also give the IMMR students more opportunity to showcase their skills.
Trying to come up with ideas, it was hard to understand what the possibilities in VR were. What was doable and what wasn’t. Rosa created a few gameplay sketches which helped a lot to understand the options.
We decided to adopt the pure experiential form.
The experience would have 5 scenes: the main hub (a bedroom), and 4 worlds corresponding to 4 interactive objects within the main hub. The 4 objects we decided on are: a computer, a painting, a music box and a book. They were picked based on their virtuality and their ability to nest worlds of their own.
The way I see it the concept builds upon the dichotomy of real vs. virtual space. It also brings back the idea of intimate domestic space as identity building factor (The Poetics of Space, Bachelard) through it’s relation to the imagination.
The main influence I picked up from Ben is What Remains of Edith Finch. The player uncovers family memories by exploring the space. The nostalgic, childhood home vibe is something we agreed on for our main hub.
It’s Winter is another game that focuses on the exploration of domestic space, without a clear aim or conclusion. I enjoy the aesthetics and sound of this game. I think this is also particularly relevant for the bedroom scene.
Another influence, more suitable for the ‘virtual spaces’ scenes, is the game Proteus (also brought up by Ben). The interesting aspect of this game is the generative nature of the sound. The game therefore becomes a sort of compositional tool (similarly to The Fake Heaven).
So far establishing an aesthetic and an overall theme and concept will hopefully make the thought process easier and give us a starting point. This way we can all start coming up with ideas and bits of work that we can bounce off each other.
*Following the group tutorial I realised we are still on different pages. Each member of the group seems to have attached different meaning to the agreed form of the experience. Is that an issue?