Abstract and Inspiration
When I was a child, I got it into my head that I should read the Iliad and the Odyssey. While I found the experience educational, actually reading the material was difficult due to the repetition of stanzas that occurs throughout the works and the language that Homer used. Therein lies the problem, a student who isn’t being careful can become lost within the text. But the text itself is still very interesting, as well as being quite entertaining. It is my intention to create a VR experience that will allow students to engage with material in way that is both memorable and easy to understand. However, steps must be taken to ensure that the original structure of the epics is not lost for a modern audience. To remove the language of the poem reduces, rather than enhances, its literary value. Therefore I will be taking special precautions when designing my product to ensure text accuracy and accessibility. My product/learning tool will be compromised of two primary experiences, an abridged and unabridged telling of the Iliad and Odyssey. The unabridged experience is the one that is designed for the classroom. It will consist of the entirety of the poems in their original forms, but with visuals and explanations that will explain some of the more cryptic language of the poems. By doing so, we will remove the confusion that often results from readers that do not research confusing terms and situations. As for the abridged experience, the main focus will be less on the language of the poems and more on the major events and themes of the material. By creating a shorter (10-20 minutes), and slightly more humorous, experience we will provide students with a means of understanding the themes without the confusing language. I plan to reach out to other scholars of literature, as well as the YouTube channel Overly Sarcastic Productions, to collaborate on this endeavor to ensure both literary accuracy and entertainment value. In doing so we can create a universal experience and understanding of material that can often be difficult for those who are not familiar with the subject. By creating these universal experiences, we hope to foster greater interest and understanding of the source material. Should this project be a success, we intend to expand to other epic poems (such as Beowulf) and other classic poems and novels (such as Frankenstein and Dracula) that students may have struggled with due to their language and content.
Audience and Purpose
It is our intent with this project to create a VR experience for those in the 15-18 year old age rang. This is largely due to that fact that during this time in their scholarly careers, they engaging with epic style poems like the Iliad and Odyssey. While this makes sense for an educator’s standpoint, as this is the age group that is most likely to be able to actually read the content, they are often unprepared for the language and prose of such works. In this scenario, the students are not to blame for this short coming, as much of the prior education has not prepared them for the nature of poetry (Gonen) .While introducing students to poetry earlier in their careers is certainly a viable option, it does not address the issue of those who are reading the material now. That is primary reason for designing this product, those students who haven’t received prior education in poetry.
In addition, while some students do have experience with poetry, the style of the epic poem is not one to be approached lightly. Especially the epic poems like the Iliad and the Odyssey, whose origins lay in spoken tradition, are difficult to read even under the best of circumstances. Much of my own experience with these particular works was spent reading and re-reading the same pages over and over again. Much of my own confusion was a result of the repeated stanzas and phrases that occurred throughout the piece. While repeated stanzas are not uncommon in other types of poetry, the frequency of these repeats is what caused the majority of my own confusion. I have since learned that this frequency of repletion was tool used by narrators of these tales to remember the frankly ridiculous amount of information that is contained in the stories. However, this style of repetition does not translate well to a written work and can lead to confusion. This is the main issue that my product will remedy. My product will place the user into the events of poems as a participant to the events, not a casually bystander. We will provide a visual experience that will enhance and maintain the original telling of the tale, while also removing the egregious use of repeated lines that is endemic of these poems. We will do everything within reason to remain true to the original writings of Homer, but we will be making concessions and alterations to ensure that user has an enjoyable experience.
The primary goal of this product is to foster understanding. The works of Homer are wonderfully entertaining pieces that many can relate to. The only factor holding people back from fully enjoying the works is its language. By creating an environment where the user is fully immersed in the telling of the story (and removing un-needed sections) we can foster greater understanding of the story and themes that make the works so valuable. Additionally, we will be returning to the very roots of these works, as we will be returning these tales to a narration (the original style of telling these particular poems). The medium of the book is certainly a valuable tool for recording information, but when it comes to the actual telling of certain stories, it is simply unable to stand up as medium.
Platform and Design
As previously mentioned, this product is intended to be a VR experience. While the field of VR is varied, our primary focus for this project will be the gaming VR headsets (such as the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, etc.). When it comes to the design and interaction of this application, we do not want to limit ourselves to what is possible on someone’s phone. Our desire is for the user to be fully immersed in the events that transpire in these stories, and the best way for us to accomplish this task is through gaming VR headsets. Interaction and a sense of being a part of the story are paramount to our products success, so we cannot be limited by the hardware present (or lacking) in phones.
The in game environment will be as realistic as we can possibly be (with hardware limitations in mind). The user must think that they are in a real world that is similar to our own, so that we can better draw them in to the story. Each game section will be set within the confines of scene that is described in the source material (ex. The Cerses’ Isle in the Odyssey or the Greek war camp in the Iliad) but players will be allowed to freely roam as much of the scene as they wish without leaving it (interacting with objects and characters within the scene, prompting text boxes or other explanations). During the player’s exploration of the scene, a narrator will be reciting the relevant passages while the characters act out and speak their lines. We want to offer players a chance to interact with the material, but we also want to remain true to the source; therefore, some of the gameplay will have to be “on rails” (a term used to describe gameplay were the player is unable to move their in game avatar in the way they wish, and is forced to experience certain events in a particular way). While VR applications similar to this do exist (such as narrative VR experiences and games like Skyrim VR).
Implementation and Long Term Vision
Our intention is to partner with a VR company, such as Mosaic, to create this product. This is due in large part to the fact that Mosaic has a network that they can reach out to for marketing and VR game creation. However, we also intended to market this product at events aimed at high school teachers (primarily English) as these will be our primary means of reaching students. Since some of our game will “on rails” it will be difficult to court serious gamers, as freedom of choice and exploration is a factor that such individuals cannot go without. Should this product be a success, we would like to expand the scope of this project to other epic poems for adaptation. Poems such as Beowulf would excellent choices for adaptation as they possess plenty of action to keep the user entertained, but also exist in a literary limbo as it was a poem that was never meant to be written down (Beowulf was historically a poem that had a lot of exposition, with the orator of tale often going off on tangents about the history of individuals and objects that appear in the tale). But, we are not just limited to poems; we could also expand this product to novels (such as Frankenstein) which may require context that is not present in modern prints of the books.
Works Cited
Gonen, Safiye Ikek Kuru. “Implementing Poetry in the Lnaguage Class: A Poetry-Teaching Framework for Prospective English Language Teachers.” Advances in Languge and Literary Studies. PDF, file:///C:/Users/Aries/AppData/Local/Temp/4797-10319-1-PB.pdf. Accessed 7 May 2019.
Mood, Laura. “Poetry: An Innovative Teaching Strategy for Exploring Empathy with Beginning Nursing Students.” Healio: Journal of Nursing Education, ezproxy.stevenson.edu:2226/nursing/journals/jne/2018-5-57-5/%7B79f9cd88-6065-4cb3-9db9-27264573c3dd%7D/poetry-an-innovative-teaching-strategy-for-exploring-empathy-with-beginning-nursing-students.pdf. Accessed 8 May 2019.
Zak, Elizabeth. “Do You Believe in Magic? Exploring the Conceptualization of Augmented Reality and its Implications for the User in the Field of Library and Information Science.” Information Technology & Libraries, eds.a.ebscohost.com/eds/detail/detail?vid=0&sid=b58628dd-cb93-46bf-9d04-63142079a2c8%40sessionmgr4006&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmUmc2NvcGU9c2l0ZQ%3d%3d#AN=100227707&db=eue. Accessed 7 May 2019.