Integrating Community-Based Participatory Research Into Immersive Narratives

Abstract: As part of a larger, years-long community-academic partnership, this study explores the integration of Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) and Systematic Representative Design (SRD) in co-designing a virtual reality (VR) narrative depicting environmental racism. Through semi-structured interviews with community partners and environmental health experts, an iterative design process refined a VR experience to ensure cultural appropriateness and narrative relevance. The findings highlight the potential of integrating CBPR and SRD approaches to create VR narratives on systemic inequities and environmental racism that are co-created with affected communities. Challenges in balancing interactivity and narrative coherence were identified, underscoring the need for ongoing community involvement and iterative refinement. This approach shifts VR design from a top-down model to one rooted in shared agency and appropriate representation, pushing the narrative’s potential for understanding lived realities shaped by systemic racism.