Research On Artistic Expression And Spatial Narrative Design Of Virtual Reality Opera

As a representative of immersive technology,virtual reality is being widely used in the creation of popular culture.The participation of this new medium is showing the possibilities of ’access to images’ and is having a continuous and profound impact on theories of image narrative.At present,although there are many different kinds of virtual reality images for narrative purposes,such as VR news,VR documentaries and VR narrative games,there is still a lack of effective theoretical systems to support and summarise the design strategies and measurement criteria in terms of sound and picture art,narrative structure and experience value.On the other hand,in the new media ecology,the impact of the intermingling of multiple cultures has encroached on the soil on which many traditional art forms have gained a foothold.Chinese opera,as a slow-paced,symbolic,holistic and present stage performing art,has gradually fallen out of touch with the aesthetic aims of the social mainstream and has been coldly received by most of the middle-aged and youth groups.In response to the crisis,researchers have actively sought a way out of the dilemma,and lending mutual support to new media is clearly a key way of responding to the current situation.The subjective immediacy of virtual reality and its unrestricted virtual nature can bring significant added value to the performance of theatre art,making it a valuable topic for further research on how to integrate the art of opera with immersive technology.In order to exploit the narrative potential of the virtual reality medium as much as possible,and in doing so,help traditional opera to better integrate into the new media communication structure and become more accessible to modern audiences,this study designs an interactive virtual reality opera based on the plot of The Return of the Peony Pavilion by Ming dynasty playwright Tang Xianzu,with the aim of enhancing the perceptual experience of the narrative.This study is dedicated to drawing out theories and design strategies for virtual space narratives with practical value from actual creations to help audiences understand opera stories through an immersive medium.This paper first draws on the research system of spatial narratology to analyse the narrative properties of the media of opera and virtual reality from a theoretical perspective.As there is still a gap in the study of immersive media in spatial narratology,this paper attempts to fill the gap in this area of research by explaining the principles of spatial narrative design for virtual reality.Secondly,this study incorporates the conclusions drawn above with experimental innovations in creative practice,and a detailed summary record of the design and development process is presented in the text.Finally,this study evaluates the design works on user experience,and the design strategies proposed in this paper are argued in reverse through the final evaluation results.Media narrative theory is dynamic and evolving,and the differences between newer media arts such as virtual reality and traditional art should be emphasised.This paper argues that narrative design in virtual reality requires a balance between temporal and spatial dimensions,and that the audiovisual representation and spatio-temporal narrative characteristics of traditional Chinese opera art fit well with virtual reality,and that the combination of the two will be beneficial to the dissemination and promotion of opera art in the new media context.The virtual reality format can effectively enhance the audience’s perception of the narrative of the work,while the traditional artistic content of the opera in turn promotes the refinement of the new technology.The fusion of the two can present national culture to the public in a different light,maximising the potential of artistic narrative through immersive media,thus achieving a win-win situation for both art and technology.