Investigating Stakeholder Influence in the Co-design of VR Game Experiences for Intangible Heritage

Co-design is increasingly adopted in virtual reality (VR) applications for intangible cultural heritage (ICH), yet the influence of stakeholder composition on both process and outcomes remains insufficiently examined. This paper investigates how different configurations of cultural familiarity, design experience, and VR literacy shape the co-design of a VR game based on the traditional ICH practice of "Pahetong" . Across three structured workshops, we analysed participation roles, knowledge contributions, and decision-making dynamics, and developed three corresponding VR prototypes, which were evaluated in a within-subjects user study (N = 24). Results show that while structured authorship can initially distribute participation, role differentiation during convergence and prototyping strongly influences which ideas become operational mechanics. Moreover, cultural authenticity alone does not guarantee interpretability; legibility depends on how tacit practices are translated into feasible and learnable interactions. We contribute empirical insights into stakeholder influence in heritage VR co-design and propose design considerations for transforming culturally grounded knowledge into playable, interpretable digital experiences.