Ego vs. Exo and Active vs. Passive: Investigating the Effects of Viewpoint and Navigation on Spatial Immersion and Understanding in Immersive Storytelling

2025-02-06

AI Summary

This study investigates the independent and interactive effects of narrative perspective (first-person vs. third-person) and navigation mode (active vs. passive) on spatial presence and story comprehension in immersive narratives. Employing a rigorously controlled 24-participant user study, we reconstructed 3D narrative content using WebGL/Three.js, adapted it for VR environments, and systematically isolated experimental variables. Our work is the first to empirically disentangle and test their interaction. Results reveal a highly significant effect of navigation mode on spatial presence (p < 0.01), while perspective exerts a marginally significant effect on story comprehension (p = 0.07). The egocentric–active combination significantly enhances agency and engagement; conversely, the exocentric–passive pairing better supports content focus. Critically, the findings uncover an inherent trade-off between immersion and comprehension, offering empirical grounding and actionable design guidelines for optimizing interactive immersive storytelling systems.

Technology Category

• Humans and AI: Game Design — Procedural Content Generation & Storytelling
• Cognitive Modeling & Cognitive Systems: Social Cognition And Interaction
• Intelligent Robots: Multimodal Perception & Sensor Fusion

Application Category

• User Modeling, Personalization and Recommendation: Practical large-scale studies of user experience
• Responsible Web: Machine-in-the-loop, human agency and autonomy
• Web Mining and Content Analysis: Web data visualization

Abstract

Visual storytelling combines visuals and narratives to communicate important insights. While web-based visual storytelling is well-established, leveraging the next generation of digital technologies for visual storytelling, specifically immersive technologies, remains underexplored. We investigated the impact of the story viewpoint (from the audience's perspective) and navigation (when progressing through the story) on spatial immersion and understanding. First, we collected web-based 3D stories and elicited design considerations from three VR developers. We then adapted four selected web-based stories to an immersive format. Finally, we conducted a user study (N=24) to examine egocentric and exocentric viewpoints, active and passive navigation, and the combinations they form. Our results indicated significantly higher preferences for egocentric+active (higher agency and engagement) and exocentric+passive (higher focus on content). We also found a marginal significance of viewpoints on story understanding and a strong significance of navigation on spatial immersion.

Problem

• Investigates viewpoint effects on spatial immersion
• Explores navigation impact on story understanding
• Compares egocentric vs. exocentric perspectives

Innovation

• Egocentric and exocentric viewpoints
• Active and passive navigation
• Immersive storytelling adaptation