May 18, 5:10 – 6:00 pm
Luna Liu, Hong Kong Shue Yan University
Two Models of Cinematic Mixed Reality Detective Game: A Comparative Case Study and Design Framework
Recent high-fidelity passthrough head-mounted displays have enabled a new form of cinematic mixed reality (CMR), in which virtual characters, clues, objects, and story events can be situated within the viewer’s physical room. This chapter examines how CMR reshapes suspense and detective storytelling through a comparative case study of two recent MR narrative games, Shattered and Detective VR. Rather than conducting a broad survey of traditional suspense and detective conventions, the chapter focuses on how these two works organize narrative progression, physical space, embodiment, investigative agency, clue systems, affective proximity, and MR-specific spatial transformation.
The analysis identifies two emerging design models. The first is a memory-maze spatialized suspense model, in which the physical room becomes a site where fragmented memory, psychological threat, and virtual story elements appear to cross into lived space. The second is a relational evidence reconstruction model, in which the physical room becomes an investigative workstation for collecting, analyzing, connecting, and reorganizing clues, testimonies, and relationships. Through this comparison, the chapter argues that CMR does not simply add immersive visual effects to existing suspense and detective forms. Instead, it reconfigures inherited narrative logics through room-scale spatial integration, situated embodiment, physicalized clues, and hand-based investigative interaction.
CVR experiences: Shattered (2024), Detective VR (2025)
Dr. Luna Chang Liu is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Applied Data Science at Hong Kong Shue Yan University. Trained as a new media artist and researcher, she earned her MA and PhD in Art and Technology from City University of Hong Kong. Liu’s doctoral research explores how immersive media—VR, AR, and MR—can be integrated with therapeutic frameworks and storytelling to support mental health. Her research interests span interactive storytelling, therapeutic game and XR, AI-driven interactive arts, and the fusion of XR with intangible cultural heritage. Liu has received the Global Culture Award at Stuttgarter Filmwinter and has twice been recognized as a Finalist at Hong Kong’s IFVA Awards. Her artworks have been selected and exhibited at international film and media art festivals. She has also published papers at ISEA and ISMAR, leading academic conferences on media art and extended reality. As principal investigator, she has completed projects on narrative therapy-informed XR design, mixed reality installations that prompt reflection on childhood trauma, and AR installations that raise public awareness of school bullying.