[Commlist] Special Issue on Immersive Visual Storytelling – PRESENCE: Virtual and Augmented Reality

Call for Papers PRESENCE: Virtual and Augmented Reality Special Issue on 
Immersive Visual Storytelling
Paper Submission Deadline: April 30th, 2022

Guest Editors: Dr. Cheng Hung Lo and Dr. Kata Szita

Call and Scope
Visual storytelling makes use of temporarily-arranged graphics and 
images to convey narratives. From illustrations to movies and other 
forms of technology-enhanced media such as games, visual narratives are 
essential in bringing out and representing meanings, ideas, emotions, 
perspectives, etc., which immerse the audience into the storified space. 
In recent years, extended reality (including virtual, augmented, and 
mixed reality) has gradually become one of the essential mediums for 
artists and designers to create mesmerizing experiences affording 
purposeful narratives or messages, e.g., cinematic virtual reality. The 
research into immersion and presence has long been grounded at 
ergonomics/human factor perspectives, focusing on human performance 
under interactable immersive environments. However, such 
performance-oriented studies may not fully explain the expressive or 
emotional aspects of immersive experiences, especially when those 
aspects are deemed as the critical factors in visual storytelling 
applications such as VR films, games, or other narrated experiences. 
There are a few fundamental specificities in working with XR as a 
collection of expressive media. Firstly, the viewer is usually 
“embodied” in an immersive scene, therefore utilizing primarily the 
egocentric frame of reference. Secondly, at the very minimum level, 
interactivity still exists to allow head or position movements, which 
consequently changes the views of a virtual scene. Thirdly, the 
stereoscopic depth resulting from disparities in left and right-eye 
perspectives brings out the third dimension of the virtual elements, 
which effectively adds another degree of freedom for creating vivid 
effects such as objects extruding from the projection plane. Fourthly 
but not lastly, other sensory information such as haptic or sound 
feedback may be integrated to provide a more holistic immersive 
experience. This brings up the broader perspective for immersive 
experience delivery. That is, to use the various forms of extended 
reality technologies, such as Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality 
(AR), Mixed Reality (MR), Physical Installations, etc. Indeed, the 
storified space can manifest in many forms that give a person the sense 
of presence in the intended constructs. The mixed-use of digital and 
physical set-ups allows narrative elements to be transmitted through 
multiple sensory channels. It is then important to understand how these 
narrative elements can work coordinatively in such an immersive context. 
In this special issue, we use Immersive Visual Storytelling (IVS) as an 
aggregated term to encapsulate the processes and approaches of using 
immersive technologies to deliver a narrated experience. Although there 
exist practical heuristics generated and suggested by the practitioners 
of IVS, it remains underexplored for the scientific understanding of the 
characteristics of this expressive medium—especially so in the context 
of the rapidly developing and increasingly available technical tools and 
the broadening use of extended reality.
Topics
In response to the agendas described above, this special issue calls for 
contributions in the research inquiries to the underlying principles, 
mechanisms, effects, and other related aspects of how a narrative 
experience is delivered through the immersive medium. The potential 
topics/scopes may include (but are not limited to) the following:
Subjective presence/embodiment in IVS Multi-modality integration (e.g., 
sound, haptic feedback) to facilitate narrations Analytical studies of 
user experience Use of spatial or depth perception principles
New methods or tools for IVS Comparative studies on delivering IVS with 
different systems IVS in different extended reality technologies (VR, 
AR, MR) Audience immersion in IVS Gaming or gamification perspectives to IVS
Ethical indications of IVS and its applications for personal well-being 
and broader challenges
We anticipate that the collection of research in this special issue will 
inform both researchers and practitioners interested in IVS with novel 
principle knowledge, design insights, and creative and research agendas. 
All researchers with relevant ongoing works are cordially invited to 
contribute to this special issue that aims to position IVS as a critical 
theme in expanding the studies of virtual presence, embodiment, and 
immersion.
Submission guidelines and more information
https://direct.mit.edu/pvar/pages/submission-guidelines

Guest Editors
Cheng-Hung Lo Senior Associate Professor School of Film and Television 
Arts, Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University
Dr. Cheng-Hung Lo is a researcher, educator, and digital artist working 
at the intersections of Arts, Culture, and Technology. With an 
interdisciplinary background spanning Psychology, Computer Science, and 
Design, he investigates how humans perceive and behave around artifacts 
in both physical and virtual contexts. His research has generated a wide 
range of published works in ergonomics, affective design, intelligent 
manufacturing, design visualization, and creative artificial 
intelligence. He has engaged dually in scientific research and creative 
practice in his academic career. The multi-facet experience enables him 
to work in various practice areas from creative ideation to production, 
with which process serves well to media, cultural, and product 
consumptions. The creative works produced by his design team have been 
exhibited and crowned with several awards at events held at both local 
and international levels. He is the founder and director of the Virtual 
Reality Lab in his current school. Current research in the lab includes: 
Perceptually-Informed Visualization, Cinematic Virtual Reality, Game 
Experience, and Cultural Innovative Design.
Kata Szita Marie Skłodowska-Curie Research Fellow Trinity College Dublin
Dr. Kata Szita is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie research fellow at the 
Trinity Long Room Hub Arts and Humanities Research Institute and ADAPT 
Centre of Excellence for AI-Driven Digital Content Technology at Trinity 
College Dublin, Ireland. Her research involves the cognitive studies of 
immersive digital media and she has authored a wide range of 
publications on attention, recollection, narrative engagement, and 
social behavior in terms of smartphone spectatorship, cinematic virtual 
reality, and social virtual reality. Currently, she leads 
interdisciplinary and cross-sector research projects on user experiences 
in social virtual reality and augmented reality and, as a collaborator, 
is involved in studies of processing fictional information, online youth 
behavior, and digital personas.

No payment from the authors will be required.


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