This session demonstrates the pedagogical value of incorporating binaural sound design into an integrated curriculum that connects humanities courses such as film, animation, theatre, and other visual storytelling experiences shaped by XR technologies.
Drawing on two case studies, the animated short Fox and the Whale (Robin Joseph, 2017) and the theatre experiment Macbeth (National Theatre, London, 2023), the session shows how binaural sonic landscapes can heighten presence, transportation, and emotional intimacy in immersive narrative environments. It also considers how binaural sound can shape the sequencing and resequencing of scenes in VR storytelling.
By engaging two legacy storytelling forms, the session asks what remains fundamentally human as storytelling moves into immersive VR formats. Even as visual technologies change, the affective qualities that make stories resonant — presence, transportation, and emotional intimacy — continue to define meaningful narrative experience.
The session also invites discussion of the relationship between binaural sound design and representations of sanity and insanity, along with the therapeutic potential of immersive sound to deepen human connection with the natural world.
Embedded clips will be available through scannable QR codes, allowing attendees to view them on their own devices. Attendees are encouraged to bring earphones or headphones for the most immersive listening experience.
