Enhancing Virtual Embodiment through Focalization: Adapting Narrative Tools and Audiovisual Language in Virtual Reality

Abstract The perceptual sensation of virtual embodiment can improve the immersion in a virtual reality experience. However, research about how to increase the feeling of embodiment is scarce and proposes the use of specialized hardware that appeals to direct corporeal sensations, such eye tracking, motion capture, and advanced rendering algorithms to realistic avatars. We argue that the user's involvement with the story can enhance their corporeal experience in the virtual world without any of the forenamed technical resources associated with the avatar. More specifically, this interdisciplinary study proposes narrative focalization as the main tool to increase virtual embodiment, that is, reinforcing the point of view by focalizing information about the character in a multimodal and repeated way, with the purpose of increasing the identification with the virtual self. To test this hypothesis, different multisensory and interactive narrative resources are tested to foster focalization and cultivate identification with the character. We developed two versions of an interactive virtual experience: one in which the motivations of the character are more emphasized to reinforce the point of view, and one from the same perspective but with a less enhanced use of focalization. The comparative results confirm that the more enhanced the focalization, the more engaged with the character the user is, resulting in a higher sense of virtual embodiment.