Embodied storytelling — Experiencing reality and empathy first-hand

Once, we could only tell stories through texts or 2D windows. Immersing in such stories solely depends on the suspension of disbelief. Yet we still constantly know that we are just peeking into another world and we are none of the characters.

These days, designers’ challenges have become more complex. Topics like social conflicts, climate change, or autonomous driving and artificial intelligence will show up on the desk more often. However, we lack approaches to let users truly believe the dreamlike, and emotionally connect to topics unfamiliar or irrelevant to their daily lives. But what if we could let people live the story first-hand? What if they could physically experience being another self or living in another world?

In this talk, I would like to introduce Embodied Storytelling, a new approach that integrates new technologies including VR, Haptics and AI. They enable us to tap into more senses to create a higher realism of body perception, hence a higher level of empathy. Neuroscientific research has proved that our body image and body schema inside the brain are plastic and variable. Through a systematic alteration of our senses such as vision, audition, olfaction, somatosensation or proprioception, our brain can even inhabit a body dramatically different from ours. I believe such visceral, emotional way of experiencing a different state of being can lead to a heightening of appreciation of other realities.