Bharat Muni’s Natya Shastra: The craft of creating VR experience
Introduction
Design for emotions has been in discussion ever since Design as an activity started. Authors like Don Norman have empathized the need for visceral Design as the entry point of product acceptance by users ( Norman,2005) Systematic studies have also revealed the importance of emotions in product acceptance decisions.(Damasio 1994).
Nowadays, brands are shifting to VR solutions to provide immersive experiences to users which convey brand values and connect with users at an emotional level.
It has been proved by research that 96% of Millennials and Gen z’s are more interested to pay for brands whose values are similar to their interest.
Gamification and storytelling are often used to increase user engagement in the VR world. We use storytelling to connect with users at an emotional level, which helps to set a theme while designing an experience. Tremendous work has been done in literary criticism by Plato, Aristotle and Bharatmuni which makes us understand how to tell a good story.
However, very little research has been done on Bharatmuni’s Natyashastra to understand the guidelines provided in the Ancient Indian treatise which can help us to create better user experiences.
Indian parallel of Indian classical theory is the rasa theory outlined by Bharata Muni in his work Natyashastra. Natyashastra provides a source of information about the treatment of rasa (Emotional Response ) and bhava(Imitations of emotions) in Indian classical literature. Bharata has also explained about eight emotional states with their corresponding rasas.
Many people think that Natyashashtra is only related to drama (natya) but it’s not true. Natyashashtra is more than that, his article provides information on the guidelines provided in Natyashastra which can be used while creating a virtual experience.
Why to use Natyashastra as a theoretical reference for creating an experience in virtual reality :
Aristotle's Poetic focused on actions but BharatMuni’s Natyashashtra is focused on incidents and situations.
In virtual reality, the presence or actions of an actor is also dependent on Incidents/situations in which Actor is present. While designing UI for screens we think about the user’s context, needs and actions but in VR environment, we also create context or a virtual environment. Sometimes we take users to different environments in the virtual world. Considering this Bharat Muni’s Natyashastra can help us to create a meaningful experience in virtual reality.
Natyashashtra primarily deals with stagecraft, music, classical dance, stage design, storytelling, plot types, makeup and almost every other aspect of stagecraft. In virtual reality the whole experience is created through music, plot, available agencies and presence/awareness of presence hence referring to Natyashashtra’s guidelines can help us to create an experience (rasa) in the virtual environment.
How does it differ from Aristotle’s Poetic:
Natyashashtra outlines a detailed theoretical perspective of drama which can be compared with Aristotle’s Poetic.
Natya — Rasa:
Bharat Muni talks about “bhavas” (Imitations of emotions) which actor performs on stage and the rasas (Emotional Responses ) they inspire in the audience. While watching the play the audience’s mind imagines the emotions and resultant impact is the experience of the “Rasas” which according to Bharatmuni is the primary objective of dramatic performance.
During ancient times without any help of high-tech technology, Bharat Muni has written down 8 dominant bhavas and 33 unstable bhavas through which particular rasa can be experienced by the audience. The hand movements, shapes and mudras show emotions as well as objects like fish, deer etc tell a story. While creating a VR experience we can use this knowledge to understand which bhavas can be used so that the expected rasas (sentiments /emotions ) can be experienced by the audience.
Each rasa experienced by the audience is associated with a specific bhava portrayed on stage. According to Bharata, there are eight sentiments (rasa). These are mentioned as follows.
- The Comic Sentiment: Hasya (Comic or farcical, Not involving cynicism)
- The Pathetic Sentiment: Karuna (Shoka : Sadness)
- The Furious Sentiment: Raudra ( Krodh: Anger)
- The Erotic Sentiments: Shringar (Rati: Desire, Affection erotic longing)
- The Terrible sentiment: Bhayanaka ( Fear or Terror)
- The Heroic Sentiment: Vira (Or Utsaha: Display of energetic enterprise, Bravery)
- The Odious Sentiment: Bibhatsa (Aversion or Loathing)
- The Marvelous Sentiment: Adbhuta (Wonder)
The main purpose of the dramatic performance is to generate rasas. For Bharata without rasa, Drama has no appeal to its audience. “Na Rasadrite Kashchid arthah pravarte” . Bharata's famous sutra is “Vibharambha -Vyabhichari sayogad Raasanishpattih” it means rasa is produced by the combination of vibhav (Any cause of particular emotions as felt by spectators), Anubhav (Sign, Indication of feelings by look and gestures ) and Vyasbhichari or sanchari bhava (thirty-three transitory states of bhavas ).
Context, Communication and gestures play an important role in VR experience design. Let’s see this video of the first 12 minutes of the Batman game. It helps to set a context for the user.
Bharata talks about four kinds of abhinaya (Acting or Histrionics) they are the following.
- By body part motions (Angika)
- By speech (Vachika)
- By costumes and makeup (Aharya)
- By means of internal emotions, expressed through minute movements of the lips, eyebrows, ear etc (Sattvika)
Here is an example of different rasas invoked through different bhavas which has been derived through research by scholars.
As we have seen in the first 12 min of the Batman: Arkham VR Video, the expression and gestures of actors evoked emotions or rasa in the user.
While designing screens we have a certain logic set to understand which design components can be used to cater user needs and goals so as to provide a better experience for the user, but while designing VR experience there are not many laws available to provide information about which component (here component means language, gesture, colours, music, set and dance ) will create the expected emotional experience for the user.
Here Natyashashtra comes to our rescue. There is a possibility to borrow some of the visual languages that the ancient Indian treatise, Natya Shastra had introduced at the level of dance and drama which was also a 4th-dimensional presentation.
Natya Shashtra Can be said to be an authoritative text of knowledge where the world depicted in drama is no less real or valid than the supposed real world in which we live. For Bharata, the world of drama is as real as this world.
Natyashashtra is referred to as the fifth Veda. Many commentaries have elaborated and expanded the scope of the Natya Shastra such as Bhatta Lollata, Bhatta Nayaka and Abhinavgupta.
Abhinav Gupta believed that while watching a performance the individual goes beyond the realm of the personal, that is when the viewer experiences rasa. In virtual reality sometimes we change the entire context of reality and take the user to a different state, as per the shared example of the Batman game in the above paragraphs the user identity also changes and we have to make the user aware of the changed identity through communicating or by using different probes.
As Don Norman has stated, Technology may change rapidly but people change slowly. The principles of design came from understanding the people. They remain true forever. Hence knowledge provided in Natyashastra can still be used for creating a Better experience for users in VR.
References :
The affective design language for mobile screens inspired by Rasa Theory Natyashashtra Part 1 and Part 2
Disclaimer: The author’s thoughts and remarks are his or her own and are only meant for informational and educational purposes. They do not constitute investment, financial, or any other advice.
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