“We’re all storytellers
and finally there’s a stage and canvas unlike any other, to allow us to tell
the most immersive stories we can think of, via the medium of VR and Mixed
Reality,” says Clyde DeSouza, the author of the book, ‘Storytelling in Mixed
Reality’.
Originally from Siolim, Clyde was born in
Mumbai and brought up in India and Kuwait. However, his work and career as a
writer, and immersive media consultant makes him spend time between Dubai,
Mumbai and sometimes in SE Asia. ‘Storytelling in Mixed Reality’ is an
anthology of topics on immersive media that Clyde has been writing about
between 2015 till date. However, to select relevant topics they’d appeal to a
wider audience of storytellers it took him about eight months to compile into
the final book. “I’ve learnt a lot while researching as it was more hands-on
research in the area of how you can “engineer human emotions” via the medium of
VR. This is a powerful tool indeed and goes into fascinating territory from
PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) treatment, to human psychology and
education,” says Clyde about the book.
With constant research and closely following up on the latest
developments, how does Clyde define mixed reality? “Mixed Reality (MR or
Extended Reality; XR) are just fancy terms for Augmented Reality (AR). Now,
there is a more technical way of describing mixed reality, and that to me would
mean a third person ‘view’ of someone inside of, and interacting with elements
in a virtual world. Imagine you’re wearing a Virtual Reality headset which has
cameras, such as Meta’s (Facebook’s) Oculus Quest. Now, if while wearing the
headset you are in a computer generated ‘room’, then you’re in Virtual Reality.
Next, you knock of the walls and the ceiling of the room, thus allowing a view
of the real world via the cameras; you’re now experiencing augmented reality,
or, Mixed Reality.
‘Storytelling in Mixed Reality’ is also written in Portuguese.
He shares why he choose to write in Portuguese. “In ‘Think in 3D’, there’s a
chapter on how movies in 3D can help in documenting historic architecture
stereoscopically in scenes. One chapter even contains 3D pictures of Old
Portuguese architecture in Goa. I wanted this book, ‘Narrativa em Realidade
Mista’, to be an original contribution from a Goan author to a language that
shares a history with Goa. The preference to translate the book in Portuguese
is equally in remembrance of my late father, Gregorio Avelino Desouza, who
studied in then Portuguese Goa and spoke fondly of Lisbon. The Portuguese have
always been pioneers and navigators, and the art of cinematic Mixed Reality
storytelling is so new the world over, why not offer food for thought in the
language of those with a pioneering and storytelling spirit. After all, not
everyone thinks in English,” he says.
His previous book, ‘Think in 3D’ has been used as a part of the
syllabus in the US. However in Goa, schools, higher secondary schools and even
colleges don’t have specific courses on VR programs. “Access to this technology
should be made available and affordable. With that will come the urge to
experiment and invent/innovate. I’m appalled at the kind of customs/ import
duties applied to gear that should have exemptions as part of educational
resources. The state of Goa can set a precedent and example by looking into
this. I was surprised at the price jump in books from Amazon if choosing to
have them shipped from the US. A ‘tax’ on knowledge is a new first for me. In
the West, ‘Think in 3D’ is being used for the past five years as part of
syllabus at Immersive design courses at the University of Southern California,
there’s also interest in ‘Storytelling in Mixed Reality’ for an upcoming course
in VR production,” explains Clyde.
He further adds, “Think in 3D’ is about stereoscopic 3D
filmmaking and the book was aimed at 3D filmmakers. It was used by some of
Hollywood’s top directors of 3D. ‘Think in 3D’ is actually complementary to
this book as it builds on the immersiveness of storytelling going beyond the
cinema screen, truly breaking the 4th wall as it were, and pulling the
audiences into the story, storytelling to storyliving.”
Clyde believes that a wide range of readers will find
‘Storytelling in Mixed Reality’ interesting including directors, storytellers,
film students and even those in the fields of psychology and medical fields
including therapy, behavioural studies. “Basically, anyone looking at immersive
storytelling might hopefully benefit from the book. It’s written from a ‘what
if’ perspective to seed ideas for furthering VR, AR and Mixed Reality,” he
adds.
Since
VR, AR and the Metaverse are evolving fields, Clyde confirms that the book will
need updating for future editions. “I already know one area that’s ripe for a
future edition; ‘Generative AI in Storytelling: From script to immersion’. It’s
all greenfield (to borrow an engineering term) and everyone is learning. There
are no gurus yet when it comes to VR, AR and the Metaverse. The language and
grammar of storytelling in mixed reality is still being written,” concluded
Clyde. The book is available on Amazon in Kindle e-book format as well as in
Paperback format.