VR images enter the Chinese story: the audience changes from spectators to fellow travelers

 In "Longmen King Kong", the audience transforms into a mason and walks into the secret realm of Longmen with a lantern.It is not until the end that the work answers the question that has always been buried: "What is King Kong“": King Kong is immortal only because mortals carry lamps.The spectator's previous action of illuminating the cave now becomes part of the story.

Domestic works screened at the 2026 Xi'an International Virtual Reality Film Week are trying to connect such physical participation with Chinese stories.In 2025, the National Film Administration issued a notice on promoting the orderly development of virtual reality movies; more than 200 VR movies have been registered and approved nationwide, about 50 have obtained the ” dragon mark, and at least 400 VR projects have appeared in scenic spots, shopping malls, museums and amusement parks.

After the number increases, the creation also needs to answer a specific question: Why is this story worth wearing a headset to watch?Being immersed in the scene can bring a sense of freshness, but after the novelty wears off, the experience itself still needs continued meaning.

《Little Carrot Head's Dream》Let the experiencer enter the cell with Little Carrot Head, experience the nightmare, and then walk out of the darkness with the dream of the future.Confinement, fear, and open space sequentially act on the body, serving empathy and connecting the audience with the emotional connections between historical figures.

The ones being screened - Little Carrot Head's Dream - Mulan 2125·Operation Misplacement - Half Quilt - Hui Niang Saves Pei Lang - do not have many technical interactions arranged.They work hard on the script, visuals, and soundscapes to give the audience a “presence feeling.If the interaction is separated from the narrative, it may also interrupt the mood; a simple and touching story can also make people sit down and be immersed in it.

《Xuan Zang and Qiuci》directly incorporates the characteristics of the medium into the theme.The audience followed Xuanzang through Qiuci and saw gorgeous caves, dances and lively markets.The climax of the experience occurs when the landscape momentarily fades and fragments.”All this will pass“, is both a line and a thought throughout the film: a 360-degree illusion is first established and then dissipated, allowing the audience to experience the existence and destruction of the world.

The change between virtuality and reality has also entered the illusion of Taixu.

This mixed reality work tells the story of the Red Mansions Troupe, connecting live performances and digital environments in the same time and space.”False is true when true, and true is also false%, becoming both the way of telling and the theme.- Ghost Blowing Lantern: The Ancient City - takes another path: the suspenseful story itself requires exploration and puzzle solving, and the work designs combat and decryption interactions accordingly, so that the operation and plot are integrated with each other, and the experiencer enters the story while focusing on action.

These attempts all point to the adaptation of media language and content.The space, body, and movement of VR need to be related to the experience being narrated in order for this form to function.

Traditional Chinese culture attaches great importance to understanding, experience and the relationship between body and mind, leaving a lot of creative space for embodied interaction.《Confucius·Golden Kite Wonderland-Let the audience become disciples of Confucius and follow Confucius when he is trapped in Pudi.Observe his choices in the dilemma, and then bow and salute according to the plot. The concept is presented by the actions of the characters, and the etiquette becomes a personal experience.

》Shaolin·The God of Kung Fu-uses VR to interactively show that walking, standing, sitting and lying are all for self-cultivation; --Meeting Fuxi-shows how ancestors created civilization through labor and craftsmanship.Together with Dragon Gate King Kong, they put body movements into cultural narratives and also raise further possibilities: What other Chinese stories can embodied interaction carry?

The VR imaging market still needs to be cultivated, the technology needs to be iterated, and standards and management are also being improved.The more urgent creative work is to produce good enough works and continue to explore storytelling methods in media language and local experience, so that the audience is willing to enter the world in the headset again.