In traditional exhibitions, the story is told by someone: a curator, a historian, a designer. There is structure, sequence, intention. But in AR/VR exhibitions, narrative becomes something else—fluid, non-linear, sometimes even user-driven. And that shift raises an uncomfortable question:
What happens to the story when no one is clearly telling it?
As museums and cultural institutions embrace immersive technologies, they are discovering that storytelling in augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) isn’t just a new format. It’s a new logic—one where authorship becomes diffuse, and the narrative itself must be reimagined.
Immersive media demand that we give up control—while still holding on to meaning.
The Disappearance of the Linear Path
Traditional exhibitions often follow a curated arc: beginning, middle, end. The visitor follows a spatial journey with interpretive texts and audio guides reinforcing a fixed narrative. In contrast, AR and VR exhibitions allow users to enter anywhere, move in any direction, interact with what they choose, and skip what they don’t.
This non-linearity opens new doors for exploration—but it also risks fragmentation.
When every visitor creates their own path, can there still be a shared story?
In a 2021 study published by Curator: The Museum Journal, researchers found that visitors in VR environments remembered fewer narrative details, but reported higher emotional engagement with individual scenes. This suggests that the storytelling impact is not necessarily weaker—but differently anchored.
Narrative Becomes Environment
In immersive spaces, the story isn’t told—it’s built into the world. Instead of linear exposition, AR/VR storytelling relies on spatial narrative: artifacts, sounds, movements, and choices that shape how meaning is made. The user becomes an actor, not just an observer.
Projects like the Dancing with Dead Ancestors VR installation by artist Lauren Moffatt, or the The Enemy AR journalism piece by Karim Ben Khelifa, show how narrative in XR can be deeply personal, embodied, and interactive—but often elusive in terms of authorial voice.
AR and VR don’t replace stories—they spatialize them, decentralize them, and sometimes dissolve them.
The Risk of Disconnection
Without a clear narrative spine, visitors can easily feel lost or unanchored. In physical exhibitions, we are used to being guided—even subtly. In immersive experiences, too much freedom can become overwhelming.
This is especially relevant in institutional contexts, where educational goals or historical accuracy matter. Without guidance, misinterpretation or confusion can dilute the intended message.
That’s why curators, educators, and experience designers must find new ways to structure meaning without reverting to rigid control.
Designing Narrative Touchpoints
Some successful strategies include:
- Environmental cues (lighting, sound, pacing) to guide flow
- Interactive choices that unlock narrative segments in context
- Subtle character narration or internal monologue as ambient voiceover
- Time-based triggers to create soft sequencing without forcing direction
The goal is to gently scaffold experience, offering enough structure for meaning to emerge—without dictating the journey.
The art of immersive storytelling lies in designing freedom with intention.
Who Owns the Story?
In AR/VR, the line between author and audience blurs. Visitors can shape the sequence, tone, even outcome of the story. In some installations, they can contribute content themselves. This raises profound questions of authority, authorship, and interpretation.
In community-based XR projects, like those developed by the Australia-based company Mod, local voices co-create immersive stories about heritage or place. The result? No singular author, but a polyphonic narrative.
But this also creates curatorial challenges: Whose voice gets represented? Who decides what’s true? And how do we signal narrative intent without being didactic?
The Future: Collaborative Narrative Design
As XR exhibitions evolve, institutions must invest not just in tech—but in narrative literacy for immersive media. This includes:
- Training teams in interactive storytelling
- Collaborating with writers, game designers, and dramaturgs
- Involving users in co-design and feedback
- Developing ethical frameworks for shared authorship and interpretation
The goal isn’t to abandon story—but to reinvent it for a world where meaning is felt, moved through, and sometimes made by the audience itself.
When visitors can shape the narrative, storytelling becomes a shared act—not a solo performance.
Key Takeaways
- AR/VR exhibitions challenge traditional storytelling through non-linear, spatial narrative
- Visitors become participants, changing the role of author and audience
- Effective immersive design requires new narrative tools, not just visual effects
- Institutions must balance freedom and structure to avoid confusion or fragmentation
- Immersive storytelling thrives on collaboration, context, and ethical authorship