Immersive Ways of Live Storytelling Through Challenging Transmedia Universes: Rodrigo Terra Interviewed by Renata Frade and Bruno Valente Pimentel
/Rodrigo Terra is an old-school transmedia evangelist who still maintains the systemic logic of developing storytelling projects with advanced immersion technologies for interactive content. His career is a great model of a hybrid researcher, with parallel academic and professional trajectories over more than 15 years of work in Brazil and abroad, especially related to virtual reality. Co-founder and Chief Technology Evangelist of ARVORE Immersive Experiences, Rodrigo Terra has won several international awards, including the first Primetime Emmy®️ in Brazil. He was awarded a Graduate in Administration degree from Fundação Getúlio Vargas (Brazil), trained as a radio broadcaster, and serves as a professor of Post-Graduation at ESPM-SP (Brazil). His mission today is to bring extended realities (XR) to the world and to raise Brazilian creative talents in XR globally. Today he is also a member of the EraTransmidia Association, Executive Director of the XRBR Association, and an active member of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (USA).
In my conversation with Terra and mobile apps developer and VFX editor Bruno Valente Pimentel, we discussed experiences developing transmedia and storytelling strategies as well as how those strategies can be applied to engaging audiences in entertainment, education, audiovisual media, and business.
Q - You have been working with virtual reality for almost 10 years in entertainment and education projects, in addition to being a transmedia researcher and founder of the Brazilian organization Era Transmídia, which has existed for around 15 years. Could you talk about why you became interested in this area of study and business? Throughout this period, what advances and areas for improvement do you see in terms of engagement and the evolution of media for transmedia?
A - My transmedia journey began in 2006 while studying at the New York Film Academy, where my focus was on flat screen content. I was always fascinated by how franchises like Star Wars, The Matrix, and The Lord of the Rings expanded their storyworlds across various media, showcasing different levels of integration and convergence. This curiosity intensified when I came across Henry Jenkins’ book Convergence Culture at a Barnes & Noble store. It was my first encounter with the term "Transmedia" and gave a name to my growing interest. At that time, there were no organizations or study groups on this topic in Brazil, leaving me to explore this field on my own. In 2011, I discovered the first study group on Transmedia at ESPM University in São Paulo. This discovery marked a turning point. EraTransmidia had just been established as an organization and, by 2014, evolved into an Association. I had the honor of serving as its President from 2016 to 2018. From the outset, I viewed transmedia as the future of content creation, extending beyond mere entertainment. Influential works by Professor Mark J.P. Wolf were pivotal in shaping my understanding of content as a journey through sub-creation. This approach sees storyworlds and galaxies of stories as systems akin to fractals, with both direct and indirect connections among the core pillars of narrative, playfulness, and interactivity. As of 2023, I observe that transmedia has finally become an integral part of the entertainment industry. The video game industry, in particular, now recognizes the value of transmedia, utilizing content creation strategies to enhance user engagement and expand intellectual properties (IPs) for that medium.
Several recent works demonstrate the effective use of transmedia:
- Sony Pictures and Sony PlayStation have adopted a new strategy for expanding their IP, highlighted by the creation of PlayStation Studios and Microsoft’s new IP conglomerate. A prime example is the Last of Us HBO series, which successfully extends the game's IP to reach a new audience while preserving the original game's fan base. This is part of a broader trend, with Sony Pictures also investing in adapting TV and movie series into innovative gaming and media formats, including XR. Conversely, Xbox is expanding beyond its long-standing Halo franchise, which has seen various unsuccessful attempts to engage new audiences over the past decade. The upcoming Fallout series on Amazon Prime, involving an open-world game, is another project to watch. It’s noteworthy that Todd Howard from Bethesda and Phil Spencer from Xbox are ensuring its canonical integration, a lesson learned from past transmedia efforts. Additionally, the growing popularity of board games and role-playing games that utilize these IPs adds another dimension to these storyworlds.
- The Line, a VR immersive narrative produced by ARVORE and directed by our partner Ricardo Laganaro in 2019/2020, is an Emmy Award-winning example of blending narrative with art forms to create something new. This project highlights how virtual reality can be used to weave compelling stories in an interactive and immersive environment and to evolve narratives by including the body as a meaningful medium.
- The creation of VR Chat worlds represents an emerging form of art and social interaction, originating from community-driven content. The works of creators like Fin Interactive showcase the potential of these platforms for community and user-generated content (UGC) to craft unique experiences. In these non-geographical spaces, users can engage with diverse avatars, including pop culture appropriations from Batman to anime characters, and participate in activities like watching new dramas through streaming services within VR Chat. This represents the cutting-edge of transmedia, where users can express themselves and interact in a virtual space that blends imagination with elements of popular culture.
Q - Your mission is to bring extended realities to the world and present creative Brazilian talents in XR internationally. How have you carried out this work and which are the most paradigmatic in terms of transmedia and storytelling actions?
A - I have always been an “evangelist” for ecosystems I’ve been connected to.
The transmedial approach, which I like to define as “the native and natural capability of an IP to expand throughout media and its degree of adaptability by trans-creation,” reaches one of its best values in the XR medium. When we add spatiality to the user’s perception of content, it unlocks another layer of the power of presence.
Q - You are a member of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (USA), President of ABRAGAMES, Executive Director of the XRBR Association, and winner of several awards, including the first Primetime Emmy®️ in Brazil. Could you talk about the journey you took to reach these achievements? What were the projects, training, mistakes and successes that made you achieve these things? How do you believe you are seen as a Brazilian, especially in the USA, in international projects and what are they currently?
A - I have always been committed to building and participating in communities I believe in. I am also an advocate for associative movements, believing in the power of people and companies coming together to seek a common betterment. I have always been an entrepreneur as well.
Q - You consider yourself a Legomaniac. How do you believe Lego can help in teaching and producing transmedia and civic imagination content and strategies? Do you have any experience in this regard?
A - LEGO is a therapy and an art form for me.
They have the incredible premise of “thinking with hands,” which helps connect our most profound learning capabilities with context understanding and complex conceptualization, everything using fun as a tool.
Through build-and-play, you need to imagine or follow initial instructions in order to start, which is essential to develop creation skills and materialize concepts. Concepts became tangible and you have a more personal and clear view of a difficult problem, for example.
LEGO Education Serious Play deserves mention because the company understood the power of fun and creation and developed a tool for stimulating problem-solving approaches by using Imagination to “get you out of the box.” This is a very native transmedia strategy.
Q - How do you see a VR/AR platform nowadays as a narrative experience tool? What are the best new platforms or technologies to develop a new immersive transmedia platform?
A - Today's immersive technology platforms empower creators and users to tell their own stories as personal journeys. This is the layer of “storyliving,” which goes beyond storytelling. A well-crafted immersive narrative experience puts you viscerally into fictional situations, as our brain understands that we are present in that space-time with more stimuli than just imagination. The memory created in that moment is more akin to a memory of a trip to a place where you were enchanted by a sunset on a rainy evening or a childhood moment playing with your favorite LEGO, rather than chronologically remembering a story you passively watched in a dark room or at home. There is no value judgment here, but immersive narratives are highly connected to the way we live moments, not just how we transmit our stories. Thus, I see that the best immersive transmedia platforms in the future will be those where you choose your degree of immersion, personalization, and socialization.
Q - How do you feel about Apple entering into the VR headset market with Vision Pro as an immersive tool? What kind of new experience you can imagine on it that you cannot have in hardware like the Meta Quest Pro?
A - Apple's proposal is indeed to have a spatial computer with enough processing power to elevate the paradigm of productivity and media consumption. We will still discover what we can do with this equipment, but an interesting thing, for example, is the potential metaphors we can create using the reality dial, where you control the degree of immersion you want to have at the moment. It's very playful and highly functional.
Q - You got a degree in radio and have a long history as a broadcaster developing projects in different platforms. Audiovisual is now becoming a convergence zone for games, AR/VR and XR projects. How do you perceive the power of storytelling and audiovisual foundations to involve the audience in those platforms?
A - I have always believed that stories should be expanded beyond screens. Great creators like Disney or Maurício de Souza have shown us this. Platforms that encompass media convergence as their semantic space need the foundations of the audiovisual to build new ways of living and telling stories. Just because we are in a new moment where interactivity opens paths for deeper connections with content, it doesn't mean the basics of story transmission no longer apply. Structures that the arts of theater, music, cinema, and television have taught us so far to inform, enchant, and provoke continue on. They are our common ground now.
Q - As a transmedia producer/researcher how do you perceive the evolution of immersive platforms, and which do you think is the best start for an immersive project nowadays ?
A - Today, to start a project, you begin with the motivation of what experience you want to offer someone. Beyond a story, the message you want to convey will be given viscerally in an immersive experience. Whether it will be a game or immersive narrative is a subsequent creation exercise, in my view. We always start with sensations, and from them, the product is born.
Q - What motivates the recent record in Brazilian game exports? Can you tell us about the Brazil Games initiative and how storytelling is applied in this campaign?
A - Brazil has improved its game production quality in all aspects – art, game design, sound design, and, mainly, universalism, over the last 10 years. The work of the Brazil Games export program (a partnership between ABRAGAMES and ApexBrasil) has been and continues to be to introduce these games, professionals, and companies to the world, so the international market can know, negotiate, buy, and distribute our content. Our narrative is very much focused on the journey of the studios, developers, and their games. We are still in a moment of discovering the capabilities of the Brazilian market in producing games that meet the desires of the modern consumer, but we are proving that the country is a creative powerhouse capable of being one of the largest game producers in the world in a few years.
Q - Metaverse is seen as an evolution of game world creation in which technology tools are used to live in other realities, other than just this physical one as we know it. There are many stories in Metaverse and different immersive experiences on it depending on the brand/technology you are using. How do you perceive it, and do you think in the future a possible convergence to create one universe/metaverse where many brand’s projects interact would be possible?
A - I believe the Metaverse is the natural evolution of convergent media. Understanding that we will increasingly enter the era of spatial computing, the media and content we consume and the forms of interaction with them and social interactions will also converge. Adding an important element in this equation: the physical world interacting in real-time with simulations, seeking to bring a new type of context perception called “mixed reality.” What we have to be careful of at this moment is to ensure that we have a solid construction of platforms that will converge in the future to be the Metaverse: integrated, open, and focused on protecting the privacy and security/integrity of those who will have this medium as part of our lives, just as we have smartphones today.
Q - Pixel Ripped is a great success for game sagas developed in Brazil! Would you tell us how the idea of the first game happened and what we can expect for the next games?
A - Pixel Ripped was born from the brilliant mind of our partner Ana Ribeiro and her motivation to tell, in the form of a game, about her child and teenage memories and daydreams about her own journey with video games. Pixel Rippedis a great tribute to the history of games, and more than that, it is a tribute to the memories lived by gamers of all ages. We can expect more games from the franchise addressing important and historic decades of video games, always with the franchise's signature of bringing the craziness of our imagination in when we are playing!
I have always been engaged in building and participating in the communities I believe in. I am also an advocate for associations, believing in the power of people and companies coming together to seek a common betterment. I have always been an entrepreneur as well. ARVORE Immersive Experiences is my second company; before that, I had a small production company focused on entertainment and events/corporate videos.
In 2017, already familiar with many VR and AR trailblazers, when we founded ARVORE, I felt the need, along with other innovators, to create a space for us to exchange experiences broadly. We joined forces in São Paulo with a group working on VR in Rio de Janeiro and started what became the XRBR Association (Extended Reality Brazilian Hub). From then on, our efforts to engage entrepreneurs from all over Brazil culminated in us becoming the largest association in the sector in Latin America by 2023.
With our work and ARVORE's engagement in the gamedev community, I was invited to lead ABRAGAMES (National Association of Videogame Developers). As of 2023, I have been in management for three years and will continue for two more. As a broadcaster, my dream was to someday come close to an Emmy statuette and perhaps see my name in the credits of a winning production. I never imagined being the executive producer of a Primetime Emmy-winning piece, especially with a prize I am most proud of like Outstanding Innovation in Interactive Programming. This recognition is a huge milestone in my journey, making me a member of ATAS and allowing me to contribute to the US content innovation ecosystem.
Being perceived and recognized as a Brazilian is the greatest achievement I seek. The quality of Brazilian digital products is unquestionable. Our diversity and originality are our trademarks; we communicate with the contemporary global audience. Living in imperfect systems has made us more adept at handling moments of crisis or difficulty. I only see advantages in being Brazilian and being able to contribute this worldview to the US and other territories.
Biographies
Renata Frade is a tech feminism PhD candidate at the Universidade de Aveiro (DigiMedia/DeCa). Cátedra Oscar Sala/ Instituto de Estudos Avançados/Universidade de São Paulo Artificial Intelligence researcher. Journalist (B.A. in Social Communication from PUC-Rio University) and M.A. in Literature from UERJ. Henry Jenkins´ transmedia alumni and attendee at M.I.T., Rede Globo TV and Nave school events/courses. Speaker, activist, community manager, professor and content producer on women in tech, diversity, inclusion and transmedia since 2010 (such as Gartner international symposium, Girls in Tech Brazil, Mídia Ninja, Digitalks, MobileTime etc). Published in 13 academic and fiction books (poetry and short stories). Renata Frade is interested in Literature, Activism, Feminism, Civic Imagination, Technology, Digital Humanities, Ciberculture, HCI
Rodrigo Terra is the Co-founder and Chief Technology Evangelist of ARVORE Immersive Experiences. He has won several international awards, including the first Primetime Emmy in Brazil. He earned a Graduate degree in Administration from Fundação Getúlio Vargas (Brazil), trained as a radio broadcaster, and is a professor of Post-Graduation at ESPM-SP (Brazil).
Bruno Valente Pimentel earned a Bachelor's degree in Social Communication and graduated in Radio and TV (Multimedia) at the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ/Brazil), with post-graduate work in Film & Television Business at Fundação Getúlio Vargas (Brazil). Bruno Valente Pimentel has been working with Audiovisual Products for more than 20 years. He was in the team who produced the first live streaming project in Brazil,Gilberto Gil/IBM ’s project “Pela Internet." He has also been a mobile app developer since the beginning of the App Store, creating apps in areas such as market, AR/VR/XR, events, services, brands, educational, training, streaming and entertainment. He also has experience in UI/UX and design and transmedia (M.I.T.).
