I have been telling stories my entire life. It is how I share experiences. It is where I find joy. It is the vehicle I use to inspire, to sell, and to conjure emotion out of thin air. I believe in my soul it is the connective tissue of the human experience. It is because of my love of stories I offer this opinion in the name of all things hopeful and positive. I hope those who read this and have the awesome power and talent to create transformational technologies can see it is a challenge to reach out and harness this technology. I am positive the future of storytelling is in good hands and will take the shape of something we have not yet fathomed.

Over $1B was invested in Virtual Reality (VR) last year. Articles in publications like The New York Times, The Guardian, and Forbes predict VR is poised to become the new medium of storytelling.

The standard line is VR creates experiences so immersive and so real that we feel transported into the world of the story. An experience like this is a phenomenal goal, but we should explore a few things before we crown VR the winner of this new golden age. You may quickly find, as I did, that while VR is ready for education and gaming, it is not quite ready for primetime - at least not in this current frame.

What do I mean by ‘storytelling’?

Throughout history, storytelling has captured some of our most compelling experiences as human beings. A great piece of fiction allows us to stretch our feelings outside of ourselves. When we are awake and immersed in a story, we are choosing to suspend our disbelief. We consciously know we are not physically in the storyteller’s world; we are only observing it. But we can let go and allow our emotions to bring these stories to life.

What is the ‘Suspension of Disbelief’?

Coined by the philosopher Samuel Taylor Coleridge in 1817, the ‘Suspension of Disbelief’ was initially defined as a willingness to set aside one’s critical faculties in the face of a fantastical tale. Now, it refers to the responsibility of the audience member to let go of reality and accept the world as it is shown to them.

We can do this because we’ve been hardwired to learn lessons from the experiences of others. We connect with these lessons through our ability to empathize - a trait which has allowed us to evolve over millennia.

Why do we empathize?

We have no choice. According to University of Virginia psychologist James A. Coan, and publications like Psychology Today empathy was the primary driver of the evolution of our species. Living in close quarters and facing regular dangers drove our brains to increase our emotional compute power. As a result, empathy, more than tools, weapons, or technology, has taught us how to survive.

Empathy is at the core of storytelling. When we hear or see a story, it is empathy that allows us to witness and feel the events by transporting ourselves inside the body and mind of the character. The storyteller makes choices for us, but it feels as if we have undertaken them of our own free will.

Another type of storytelling.

Now, there is a different kind of story we can experience, one that is all free will: the story of our dreams. A world we create from inside our subconscious. In our dreams, there is an implicit suspension of disbelief because it is pulling from our actual thoughts and experiences - emotionally this feels real. We believe our dreams because they are working from the inside out.

Oddly enough, VR is closer to dreaming than storytelling. As far as your mind is aware, the VR experience IS happening - suspension of disbelief is not a choice here. However, we are not as fully engaged in VR as we are in our dreams. That's the rub; we are leaving sensations on the table. We are no longer stepping inside another character; it truly is us, but not fully us.

The challenge.

As a storyteller, how do you drive a narrative from the outside and simultaneously give total control to the viewer from the inside? As the viewer, we are not able to make choices to influence the story. We are muted. We are passive. We are, in effect, a ghost. Matt Burdette, of Oculus Story Studio, calls this the ‘Swayze Effect,’ which “ ... describes the sensation of having no tangible relationship with your surroundings despite feeling present in the world. Much like the experiences and struggles of Sam Wheat, the protagonist in Ghost, played by Patrick Swayze. Basically, it’s the feeling of yelling ‘I’m here! I’m here!’ when no one or nothing else around seems to acknowledge it”. It is because of the Swayze Effect that in VR we can't give ourselves over to the journey and get swept up in the experience. We are left to weirdly observe without full emotional commitment.

Virtual Reality wants to replicate the experience created by our emotions, and our subconscious mind, but so far it is only able to print out our dreams. It's as if we are just thumbing through a book of disconnected pictures. We are free to choose to look at each picture in any order and from any angle we choose. But because of this there is no narrative line to hold on to.

The role of the audience.

Storytelling is, by nature, passive. We love it because it puts us at a safe distance from the action but still allows us to get swept up in our emotions and experience something we may never have otherwise - all without putting ourselves in harm's way.

VR changes the role of the audience. In VR, there is no shared experience. VR doesn’t create a fixed frame of view. Everyone takes their journey from their chosen perspective. Their favorite moment is something others may have missed entirely while exploring other parts of the scene.

What’s next?

The hurdle for VR lies in the word ‘storytelling', should we choose to use the traditional definition. It’s not telling; more accurately, it is story-exploring. Virtual Reality is already a fantastic vehicle for exploring experiences in education and gaming. These are places where personal observation and choice are the focus of the event. But for it to reach its fullest potential, we need to free this medium from the traditional bonds of storytelling. We need to break through and create worlds, characters, and journeys that cater to this new perspective.

We need to find ways for this technology to work from the inside out. Once we do, we will see ourselves living inside an entirely new form. One where the pages are written as we experience them and our emotions control the narrative. I for one can’t wait to explore that story!

#STORYEXPLORING - Let me hear from you!

jeff