VR & Pearl Response

VR has honestly never interested me. I've never wanted to put on those goggles that will take me on an adventure through a forest or a car chase or into a dream universe. Without taking this course, I also wouldn't have really considered VR to be a form of electronic literature. "The Wilderness Downtown" opened my eyes as it carried a deeper meaning to the project and has the ability to relate to anyone and everyone. It has a different feel from a traditional video game because it's a lot more intimate and personal to the audience. I agree that it should be referenced as an "empathy machine" because it had the power to evoke strong emotions of nostalgia from the viewer, depending on their childhood and personal experiences.

Queerskins has been mentioned since the beginning of this class so I was excited to learn more about it. The story captured a very raw experience that people of the LGBTQ community face often, especially in areas that are less accepting. When I searched it, I found that it had 3 sections: Queerskins: A Novel, Queerskins: A Love Story (Chapter 1), and Queerskins: Ark (Chapter 2). I skimmed through all of them and noticed that they all had many layers. The images and audio combined together make it a very intimate experience and you really feel a lot of empathy and sympathy for the characters involved. The media aspects make it very immersive and grab your attention.

I forgot to do a response for Pearl so I'm adding it on to this post! Pearl was another emotional VR experience. The 360 feature really added a lot to the piece and made it so the audience feels more involved in the story. It's a really cool and cute novel that makes me feel really nostalgic towards my own childhood because my dad is very similar to the dad in the story. The music was really beautiful and it was really nice to watch as this family grows up.

-Maddie