Kyoko Omori, associate professor of East Asian Languages and Literatures – Japanese, gave an invited talk on April 22 at Studio X, the XR lab at the University of Rochester.
Her talk, "Echoes of the Silent Screen: Bringing Benshi Storytelling to Life in VR," explored how virtual reality (VR) can recreate the multisensory experience of Japanese silent film screenings, where live, in-person narrators known as benshi performed alongside the films and occasionally interacted with the audience.
Omori discussed building VR theaters modeled on historic Tokyo cinemas, integrating synchronized films and benshi audio recordings, and using them in her classes to foster immersive learning that bridges tradition, technology, and education.
