Immersive Storytelling in 360-Degree Videos: An Analysis of Interplay Between Narrative and Technical Immersion

Abstract

Three-hundred-and-sixty-degree videos are an innovative video format, and due to various narrative and technical aspects, they allow audiences to be deeply immersed in their content. Through an explorative, qualitative content analysis (and parts of narrative analysis) aspects of immersion were explored in various 360-degree videos. Our results give an overview of multiple immersive factors in 360-degree storytelling and the interplay of narrative and technical aspects of immersion. Technical immersion manifests through cues to direct the viewer’s attention and cues to acknowledge the viewer as a part of the virtual environment. Narrative immersion, on the other hand, is influenced by the setting, as well as by the interplay of story, characters, and viewer integration. Our findings also indicate that narrative and technical aspects support each other to strengthen immersion.