Conclusion: Virtual Reality Narratives as Embodied Encounters in Space

This final chapter of Virtual Reality Narratives: Embodied Encounters in Space reflects on the book content to further interrogate the specificity of virtual reality (VR) as a narrative format. It first considers industrial developments that have influenced the creation of entertainment-based VR projects in recent years, and then isolates three key themes that emerge in the scholarship. These are VR as spatialised storytelling, user-focused approaches to narration, and VR as Interactive Digital Narrative (IDN). A discussion of these themes foregrounds the way that VR harnesses the user’s body as a storytelling tool, which calls for consideration of accessibility and inclusion issues. The chapter concludes with a discussion of future directions for research into VR narratives.