Conference Expanding Realities Spatial Storytelling
ON SITE Bertha-Benz-Saal Thursday, May 07, 15:45

Designing the Psyche: Scale and Transition as Narrative Devices

Video on demand

VR is the technology, but the actual medium is Space. Andreea Ion Cojocaru (NUMENA) argues that while disciplines like theater and architecture have mastered spatial storytelling for millennia, game design and UX often treat environments as mere backdrops. This talk transfers "critical spatial knowledge" into practical narrative tools for VR. Andreea will contrast the "spatial affordances" of the Acropolis against the level design of Half-Life’s City 17 to show how space can actively organize plot and action rather than just contain it. She will also explore scale transitions as a narrative device—using examples from Mamoru Oshii’s Angel’s Egg and her own Venice Biennale project Dear Mother—demonstrating how psychological spaces (like the attic or basement) can drive character development and metaphysical storytelling.

Andreea Ion Cojocaru

Andreea Ion Cojocaru, Founder NUMENA, NUMENA

Andreea Ion Cojocaru is an architect and technologist working at the intersection of spatial design, human-computer interaction and narrative systems. As co-founder of NUMENA, a research-driven technology company, she develops spatial simulations and extended reality tools that address complex cognitive and operational challenges. Trained at MIT and Yale, where she was awarded the AIA Gold Medal, her work has a strong focus on space as a medium, exploring how perception and psychological environments shape meaning and experience. Drawing from disciplines such as theater, film, and architecture, her projects, from the Venice Biennale to experimental VR environments, investigate how space itself can structure story, emotion, and cognition. A frequent international speaker at venues including SXSW and Cornell Tech, Andreea brings a distinctly interdisciplinary perspective that merges art and design methodologies with technological innovation to redefine the borders between traditional disciplines.