Marc, Florin Adrian (2026), Live Mimesis: AI-NPC and the Emergence of Interactive Narrative in Virtual Reality, Cunoașterea Științifică, 5:2, 183-194, DOI: 10.58679/CS54259, https://www.cunoasterea.ro/en/live-mimesis-ai-npc-and-the-emergence-of-interactive-narrative-in-virtual-reality/

 

Abstract

This article explores how immersive storytelling in virtual reality (VR) reshapes the adaptation of fantasy literature, with a focus on its narrative and emotional implications. The research is grounded in the development of a virtual environment inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Silmarillion, where users interact with AI-NPC capable of nonlinear dialogue, functioning simultaneously as narrators and participants within the story world.

The study addresses two central questions: how users position themselves in relation to the narrative, and how this form of adaptation should be understood in relation to existing media such as cinema and video games. Drawing on Linda Hutcheon’s theory of adaptation, the article argues that VR-based storytelling, enhanced by AI-NPC interaction, gives rise to a distinct form of narrative experience, which I define as “Live Mimesis” — a dynamic process in which the story emerges through real-time interaction between user and system.

Keywords: Immersive storytelling, Virtual reality, AI-NPC, The Silmarillion, Adaptation theory, Linda Hutcheon, Nonlinear narrative, Live Mimesis

Mimesis live: AI-NPC și apariția narațiunii interactive în realitatea virtuală

Rezumat

Acest articol explorează modul în care povestirea imersivă în realitatea virtuală (VR) remodelează adaptarea literaturii fantasy, concentrându-se pe implicațiile sale narative și emoționale. Cercetarea se bazează pe dezvoltarea unui mediu virtual inspirat de Silmarillion al lui J.R.R. Tolkien, în care utilizatorii interacționează cu AI-NPC capabili de dialog neliniar, funcționând simultan ca naratori și participanți în lumea narativă.

Studiul abordează două întrebări centrale: cum se poziționează utilizatorii în raport cu narațiunea și cum ar trebui înțeleasă această formă de adaptare în raport cu mediile existente, cum ar fi cinematografia și jocurile video. Bazându-se pe teoria adaptării a Lindei Hutcheon, articolul susține că povestirea bazată pe VR, îmbunătățită de interacțiunea AI-NPC, dă naștere unei forme distincte de experiență narativă, pe care o definesc drept „Mimesis live” – un proces dinamic în care povestea apare prin interacțiunea în timp real dintre utilizator și sistem.

Cuvinte cheie: Povestire imersivă, Realitate virtuală, AI-NPC, Silmarillion, Teoria adaptării, Linda Hutcheon, Narațiune neliniară, Mimesis live

 

CUNOAȘTEREA ȘTIINȚIFICĂ, Volumul 5, Numărul 2, Iunie 2026, pp. 183-194
ISSN 2821 – 8086, ISSN – L 2821 – 8086, DOI: 10.58679/CS54259
URL: https://www.cunoasterea.ro/en/live-mimesis-ai-npc-and-the-emergence-of-interactive-narrative-in-virtual-reality/
© 2026 Florin Adrian MARC. Responsabilitatea conținutului, interpretărilor și opiniilor exprimate revine exclusiv autorilor.

 

Live Mimesis: AI-NPC and the Emergence of Interactive Narrative in Virtual Reality

Florin Adrian MARC[1]
florin.marc@ubbcluj.ro

[1] Faculty of Theatre and Film, Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

 

I. Introduction

Storytelling has always evolved alongside the mediums that support it — from oral traditions to written literature, from film to video games, and now to virtual reality. Each transition has not only transformed how stories are told, but also how they are experienced, shifting the audience from passive receivers to increasingly active participants.

In this context, virtual reality (VR) emerges as a medium capable of reconfiguring literary adaptation into an immersive and interactive experience. This research explores the use of VR to translate fantasy literature — specifically J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Silmarillion — into a navigable narrative environment. The complexity of Tolkien’s world, with its layered mythology and spatial depth, makes it particularly suitable for this form of adaptation.

The study focuses on how immersion reshapes both the narrative structure and the emotional engagement of the user, while also examining the role of AI-NPC technology in this process. Through dynamic interaction, AI-NPC enable nonlinear dialogue and adaptive storytelling, functioning simultaneously as narrators and agents within the story world.

In this framework, the AI-NPC no longer operates as a scripted entity, but as a responsive narrative presence that evolves in relation to the user’s actions. This shift disrupts the traditional boundaries between narrator, character, and audience, opening the possibility for a new form of storytelling based on interaction rather than linear progression.

II. THE DEVELOPMENT OF NARRATIVES AND THEIR ADAPTATION TO EMERGING MEDIA TECHNOLOGIES

A. The Narrative

Narrative is not merely a cultural form, but a fundamental structure through which human experience is organized, interpreted, and communicated. Across history, narratives have continuously adapted to the technological conditions that support them — from oral traditions to written literature, and later to cinematic and digital forms. Each transition has not only transformed the medium of expression, but also the ways in which stories are constructed, perceived, and experienced.

In the context of emerging media, technologies such as virtual reality (VR) and artificial intelligence (AI) introduce a significant shift in the logic of storytelling. They enable a form of engagement that is no longer limited to representation, but extends into interaction, participation, and real-time responsiveness within narrative environments.

These transformations can be understood through the framework proposed by Linda Hutcheon in A Theory of Adaptation, where adaptation is defined not as a process of simple transfer, but as a creative and interpretative act. For Hutcheon, an adaptation does not replicate its source; it reconfigures it, producing a new work that exists in dialogue with the original.

B. Phases of Narrative Transformations

The evolution of narrative can be understood as a series of transformations shaped by the conditions of its transmission. In oral traditions, storytelling functioned as a fluid and adaptive process, where narratives were continuously reshaped through performance. Each retelling introduced variation, making the story inherently unstable and context-dependent — an early form of adaptation driven by audience, memory, and interpretation.

The emergence of writing introduced a different paradigm. Narrative became fixed in a material form, enabling preservation and consistency across time. However, this stabilization did not eliminate transformation; rather, it relocated it. Interpretation, translation, and adaptation into other media — such as theater or later film — became the primary modes through which narratives continued to evolve.

The development of cinema marked a decisive shift toward visual and auditory representation. Film adaptations do not merely reproduce literary works, but reinterpret them through the language of images, montage, and sound. As Linda Hutcheon argues, adaptations function as autonomous narrative forms, generating experiences that are distinct from their source material. In this context, fidelity becomes secondary to transformation, as the constraints and possibilities of the medium redefine how stories are constructed and perceived.

C. Adaptations in the Context of New Media Technologies

In the context of emerging media, virtual reality (VR) and artificial intelligence (AI) extend the logic of adaptation beyond representation, transforming it into a process grounded in interaction. Rather than engaging with a narrative as a fixed structure, the user enters a responsive environment in which meaning is shaped through direct involvement with both space and character.

Virtual reality redefines immersion not simply as sensory engagement, but as a structural condition of the narrative itself. The user is no longer positioned outside the story, but within it, navigating its environment, encountering its elements, and influencing its unfolding. In this sense, adaptation becomes less about translating a story into a new medium and more about constructing a space in which the story can be experienced from within. This aligns with what Linda Hutcheon describes as a “total environment experience,” where the boundaries between narrative and medium begin to dissolve.

Artificial intelligence further amplifies this transformation. Through AI-NPC technology, characters are no longer limited to pre-scripted behavior, but operate as responsive agents capable of generating dialogue and adapting to user input in real time. This introduces a fundamental shift in narrative structure: the story is no longer fully predetermined, but emerges through interaction.

In contrast to traditional adaptations — where a literary work is translated into a linear format such as film or theater — VR-based experiences disrupt the stability of the narrative. The user’s actions become constitutive of the story itself, altering not only its sequence, but its meaning. As a result, adaptation in VR resists classification within existing media frameworks, occupying a hybrid space between cinema, video games, and interactive systems.

From this perspective, adaptation evolves into a collaborative process. Hutcheon’s notion of adaptation as a “dialogue with the original” acquires a new dimension in VR, where the dialogue is no longer only between texts, but between system and user. Each interaction generates a variation of the narrative, producing a distinct experiential form that cannot be fully replicated.

This form of storytelling signals a shift toward a dynamic narrative model, in which immersion, interaction, and variability are not secondary features, but defining conditions. In this sense, VR and AI do not simply expand existing narrative forms, but contribute to the emergence of a new paradigm of storytelling.

III. TECHNOLOGY USED

A. Creating the Virtual Environment with Archicad and Datasmith

In constructing the virtual environment, architectural modeling was carried out using Archicad, a tool suited for generating structured spatial layouts. The models were then transferred into Unreal Engine 5 via the Datasmith plugin, allowing for an optimized topology that preserves visual detail while maintaining real-time performance.

This balance between visual complexity and computational efficiency is not merely a technical constraint, but a fundamental condition of immersive storytelling. The stability of the virtual environment directly influences the user’s sense of presence, ensuring that interaction remains fluid and uninterrupted. In this sense, technical optimization becomes an integral part of the narrative experience, supporting the continuity and credibility of the virtual world.

B. Using Unreal Engine 5 for Developing the Virtual Reality Experience

Following the modeling phase, the virtual environment was developed in Unreal Engine 5 (UE5), a platform that enables the integration of visual, spatial, and interactive elements within a real-time system. Beyond its graphical capabilities, UE5 functions as a framework for structuring the user’s navigation and interaction within the narrative space.

Within this environment, elements such as landscape, atmosphere, and ambient sound were not treated as mere visual enhancements, but as components that contribute to the construction of an immersive narrative world. The representation of Tolkien’s universe thus becomes not only a matter of visual fidelity, but of experiential coherence.

Through the implementation of navigation and interaction systems, the user is positioned as an active explorer of the environment. The engine supports a seamless transition between perception and action, allowing the narrative to unfold through movement, attention, and engagement with the surrounding space. In this sense, UE5 does not simply render a world, but enables the conditions through which that world can be experienced as narrative.

C. AI-NPC Technology: The Synergy of MetaHuman Creator and Unreal Engine 5

The creation of AI-NPC characters involves the integration of multiple platforms within Unreal Engine 5, forming a unified system that supports both visual realism and interactive behavior. Character modeling was carried out using MetaHuman Creator, a tool that enables the development of highly detailed digital humans capable of expressing nuanced emotional states.

However, the significance of these characters extends beyond visual fidelity. Their realism plays a crucial role in establishing the credibility of the interaction, allowing users to perceive them not merely as graphical entities, but as presences within the narrative space.

Once integrated into the virtual environment, these characters function as interfaces between the user and the story world. Their design supports not only representation, but engagement, preparing the conditions for dynamic interaction and narrative exchange. In this sense, the AI-NPC is not simply a visual component, but a structural element within the immersive narrative system.

D. Integration of Artificial Intelligence with ConvAI and the LLM Database

The AI-NPC is assigned a dynamic identity through the ConvAI platform, which integrates a database grounded in large language models. This enables the character to engage in nonlinear dialogue, generating context-aware responses that evolve in relation to the user’s input. As a result, the AI-NPC does not operate as a fixed entity, but as a continuously adapting presence whose behavior and identity emerge through interaction.

In this configuration, the AI-NPC functions as a narrative co-agent rather than a pre-scripted guide. It participates in the construction of the story by responding to user actions, shaping the direction of the narrative, and enabling multiple trajectories to unfold. Each interaction becomes a unique instance of the narrative, structured not by a predetermined sequence, but by the interplay between user input and system response.

Beyond dialogue, the AI-NPC mediates the relationship between the user and the virtual environment. Through verbal interaction, the user can access narrative information, request descriptions, or trigger events within the world. The character thus operates as an interface that connects language, action, and space, allowing narrative elements to be activated, interpreted, and reconfigured in real time.

This capacity transforms the AI-NPC into an active narrative instance — one that not only communicates the story, but also participates in its unfolding. The environment itself becomes responsive to this interaction, as actions initiated through dialogue can alter states, initiate events, or guide progression. In this sense, the narrative is no longer delivered, but enacted through a collaborative process.

Consequently, the AI-NPC redefines the traditional role of the narrator. Rather than occupying a stable, external position, it emerges as a mediator situated within the narrative system, dynamically negotiating meaning between user, environment, and story. This shift marks a transition from linear storytelling to an interactive narrative model in which coherence is continuously constructed through engagement.

IV. QUESTIONS

This study investigates how immersion in a virtual reality environment, combined with interaction with AI-NPC characters, reshapes the user’s understanding of their role within the narrative. Specifically, it examines whether the user perceives themselves as an observer, an active participant, or a collaborative agent in the construction of the story.

Furthermore, the research addresses the problem of classification: how should this form of narrative adaptation be situated within the framework of contemporary media? It explores whether VR-based literary adaptations align with established forms such as cinema or video games, or whether they constitute a distinct narrative paradigm defined by interactivity, immersion, and variability.

V. THEORY OF ADAPTATION AND INTEGRATION IN IMMERSIVE STORYTELLING

Narrative adaptation functions as a transitional process between media, enabling stories to be reconfigured across different forms such as literature, theater, film, and video games. Each medium introduces specific constraints and possibilities that reshape both the structure of the narrative and the way it is experienced.

In A Theory of Adaptation, Linda Hutcheon argues that adaptation should not be understood as simple transposition, but as a creative and interpretative act. An adaptation does not reproduce its source; it rearticulates it, generating a new work that operates according to the logic of its medium. As such, adaptations develop their own narrative language, shaped by the affordances of the form in which they exist.

Within the context of emerging media, and particularly virtual reality (VR), this process undergoes a significant transformation. Adaptation is no longer limited to reinterpretation at the level of form, but extends into the level of experience. The user is no longer positioned as an external receiver of the narrative, but becomes an active participant within it.

This shift suggests that adaptation in VR is not only a matter of translating content, but of restructuring the conditions under which the narrative takes place. The story is no longer fixed in advance, but unfolds through interaction, situating the user as a constitutive element of the narrative process.

A. Adaptation in VR: A Narrative Paradigm

Virtual reality introduces a fundamental shift in the logic of narrative adaptation. In traditional media such as literature or film, the narrator maintains control over the structure and progression of the story, positioning the audience as an external receiver. By contrast, virtual reality redistributes this control, enabling the user to become an active component within the narrative system.

As Linda Hutcheon suggests, adaptation operates as a dialogue with the original work; however, in VR this dialogue is extended beyond the level of interpretation to that of participation. The user does not simply engage with a reinterpretation of the source material, but intervenes in the unfolding of the narrative itself.

The VR adaptation of The Silmarillion exemplifies this shift by constructing a navigable three-dimensional environment in which the story is experienced spatially rather than sequentially. Users are able to explore the world, interact with its elements, and engage with characters in a manner that alters the trajectory of the narrative. As a result, the story is no longer bound to a fixed structure, but becomes variable and contingent upon user interaction.

This capacity to reshape the narrative through individual decisions positions VR adaptation as a distinct narrative form, one that exceeds the representational limits of conventional media and moves toward a system in which narrative is generated through experience.

B. Immersion as the Central Part of the Narrative

Immersion in virtual reality is often described as a sensation of presence; however, within the context of narrative adaptation, it functions as a structural condition rather than a purely perceptual effect. It defines the way in which the narrative is accessed, experienced, and constructed. Instead of observing the story from an external position, the user is situated within the narrative environment, engaging with it through action and perception.

This repositioning alters the fundamental relationship between user and narrative. In contrast to film, where engagement is mediated by the screen and controlled by the sequence of images, VR enables direct interaction with the story world. As a result, immersion becomes inseparable from participation, and the narrative unfolds through the user’s movement, attention, and decisions. Within this framework, Hutcheon’s concept of adaptation acquires a new dimension, as the experience is no longer defined solely by reinterpretation, but by involvement.

In this study, immersion is operationalized through the interaction between the user, the environment, and the AI-NPC. The user does not simply encounter The Silmarillion as a represented story, but engages with it as a navigable and responsive space. The AI-NPC plays a central role in this process, functioning not as a background character, but as an active collaborator that responds to user input and participates in the progression of the narrative.

Through this interaction, immersion extends beyond spatial presence into narrative agency. The system establishes a continuous exchange between user and environment, where guidance, dialogue, and action are integrated into a unified experience. Consequently, adaptation becomes a fluid process, shaped not only by the properties of the medium, but by the dynamics of interaction that sustain it.

C. The Role of AI-NPC in Immersive Adaptation

This form of adaptation introduces a significant shift through the implementation of AI-NPC (Non-Playable Character) technology, enabling a nonlinear and personalized engagement with the narrative. Rather than functioning as automated avatars, AI-NPCs emerge as dynamic narrative entities capable of influencing the progression of the story through interaction.

In the VR adaptation of The Silmarillion, the AI-NPC operates in a dual capacity: both as narrator and as character. This duality destabilizes traditional narrative roles, as the function of narration is no longer external or fixed, but embedded within the interactive system itself.

Drawing on data structured through large language models (LLMs), the AI-NPC engages in context-sensitive dialogue, adapting its responses to the user’s input. As a result, the narrative is not predetermined, but continuously reconfigured through interaction. Each engagement produces a variation of the story, shaped by the interplay between user intention and system response.

Beyond dialogue, the AI-NPC participates in the virtual environment as an active agent, capable of initiating actions and responding to events alongside the user. This integration of language, behavior, and environment transforms the AI-NPC into a central mediator within the narrative system.

In this configuration, the AI-NPC can be understood as a narrative instance rather than a supporting element. It does not merely convey the story, but contributes to its ongoing formation, positioning narrative as a process that emerges through interaction rather than a structure that is delivered in advance.

D. Non-Linear Adaptation: Creating a Flexible Narrative Experience

The non-linear nature of VR adaptation represents one of its defining characteristics. Unlike conventional adaptations, which follow a predetermined sequence, VR-based narratives operate as fluid structures that evolve in response to user interaction. The progression of the story is no longer fixed, but contingent upon decisions, actions, and engagement within the virtual environment.

As Linda Hutcheon suggests, adaptation involves the reinterpretation of a narrative in accordance with the specific conditions of a medium. In the case of virtual reality, these conditions extend beyond representation to include interaction and variability. The adaptation of The Silmarillion in VR exemplifies this shift, transforming the narrative from a singular, linear thread into a branching system of possibilities shaped by user participation.

Within this framework, the user becomes an active contributor to the narrative process. The story is not simply experienced, but co-constructed through exploration, dialogue, and decision-making. Each trajectory represents a distinct configuration of the narrative, generated through the relationship between user, system, and environment.

This transformation challenges the classification of VR within existing media categories. While it incorporates elements of both cinema and video games, it cannot be fully reduced to either. Instead, it operates as a hybrid narrative system in which representation, interaction, and immersion converge.

Consequently, immersive VR storytelling can be understood as the emergence of a new narrative form — one defined not by linearity or fixed authorship, but by variability, participation, and real-time construction of meaning.

Conclusions

This study proposes the concept of “Live Mimesis” as a framework for understanding immersive narrative in virtual reality. Drawing on the classical notion of mimesis as the imitation of reality in art, “Live Mimesis” redefines this process as a dynamic and interactive construction of narrative, shaped in real time through user engagement.

Within this model, the narrative is no longer a fixed structure, but a fluid system that evolves through interaction. Meaning does not pre-exist in a finalized form; it emerges through the continuous exchange between user, system, and environment. In this context, the AI-NPC assumes a central role as a co-narrative agent, participating in the generation, modulation, and progression of the story.

Rather than reproducing a narrative, “Live Mimesis” operates as a process of enactment, in which the story is actualized through interaction. Each experience constitutes a distinct configuration of the narrative, shaped by user decisions, dialogue, and engagement with the virtual world.

 

However, this model also introduces a critical tension between narrative flexibility and structural coherence. While AI-NPC systems enable adaptive and nonlinear dialogue, they also risk generating inconsistencies that may disrupt the integrity of the narrative. The challenge, therefore, lies in balancing openness with constraint, ensuring that variability enhances rather than fragments the storytelling experience. This requires the implementation of narrative frameworks capable of guiding interaction without restricting its generative potential.

In this sense, “Live Mimesis” marks a shift from representation to participation, from fixed authorship to distributed narrative agency. It defines a form of storytelling in which narrative is not delivered to the user, but emerges through their involvement, positioning immersive VR as a distinct paradigm within contemporary narrative practices.

Acknowledgment

I wish to express my sincere gratitude to my professors for their unwavering support throughout the years, which has been essential to the development of this project.

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