A transmedia narrative about grief, memory, and letting go
Echoes of the Past
12 weeks
Timeline
Steve Hudak
Advisor
Katherine Dao
Katrina Hu
Franziska Kwan
Ken Piquero
Team
Figma
Elevenlabs
Roblox
HTML/CSS
P5.Js
ChatGPT
Spline
Adobe Aero
Tools
Overview
Players step into the role of Alex, a heartbroken artist starting over in her family’s long-abandoned home. Within its walls, she uncovers traces of Ori, a ghost tethered to the past by an unfinished love song. Ori believes that if the final notes are found and played, he can bring back his lost love, Emma.
But as Alex unpacks boxes, follows scattered clues, and pieces together the remnants of Ori’s story, both she and the player come to understand that closure isn’t about rewriting the past — it’s about learning to leave it behind.
01 Why Tell This Story?
02 The Big Question
03 Process
04 What AI Helped Us Do
05 What We Learned
Table of Contents
The Big Question
How Might We...
design an interactive narrative experience about grief and moving forward using both physical and digital spaces?
We set out to build a transmedia story players could explore on campus and online, blending physical notes, AR ghost encounters, and 3D digital rooms. A story you could literally walk into.
Loss is something we all carry differently. Some memories comfort us. Others haunt us. We wanted to make a project that explored what it means to hold on too tightly to the past — and what it takes to finally release it.
Inspired by the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, Echoes of the Past became a modern ghost story about unfinished songs, old houses, and the impossibility of bringing someone back.
This wasn’t meant to be a horror story. It was meant to feel quiet, personal, and sad in all the right places.
Rationale
Why tell this story?
Process
Double Diamond
Brainstorming Story Concepts
From there, we explored a range of concepts — everything from memory maze games to cursed family heirlooms to generational diaries. Music kept appearing as a recurring thread. It felt like the perfect metaphor for memory: intangible, nostalgic, and easy to get stuck in.
We landed on a story where a ghost named Ori, trapped by an unfinished love song, reaches out to Alex — the protagonist — asking for help completing his final composition. The hook wasn’t about bringing someone back, but about realizing you don’t have to.
Transmedia Storytelling
Moodboarding
To make this work, we decided to divide the experience across multiple platforms:
Spline: Alex’s personal room, reflecting her grief and history.
Roblox: A full tourable house, revealing deeper secrets as the player explores.
Adobe Aero: AR encounters with Ori, making him feel present in the real world.
Physical Artifacts: Aged notes, music sheets, posters, and ID cards hidden around campus.
Each medium served a narrative function — physical objects tied players to the world, AR gave them immediate character interactions, and digital spaces allowed for deep exploration.
A visual language emerged quickly. We moodboarded Mediterranean Revival and Spanish Colonial Revival homes — ornate, sun-weathered, eerie but romantic. Homes with stories in their walls. This wasn’t a modern horror setting. It was a home you might inherit from a distant relative, the kind with forgotten trunks in the attic.
The tone would be nostalgic, melancholic, and atmospheric. Lighting, color palettes, and object textures were all planned around this look.
We started with the idea of borrowing from ancient mythology — specifically, Orpheus and Eurydice, a tragedy about love, loss, and the price of looking back. There was something timeless in the way the myth explored grief, memory, and our inability to let go of the people we lose. But we didn’t want to simply retell it. We wanted to reimagine it.
What if, instead of an epic descent into the underworld, it was a quiet, modern story about a young woman moving into an old home? What if the ghosts that linger aren’t vengeful, but love-struck and stuck? And what if letting go was the point, not the tragedy?
That question became the foundation for Echoes of the Past.
DISCOVER
Greek Story Inspiration
Echoes of the Past would follow Alex as she moves into a family estate that’s been empty for generations. Through hidden notes, digital messages, and spectral encounters, she’d uncover Ori’s story and, in the process, confront her own heartbreak.
The story would live across both physical spaces (Sheridan’s J Wing, the Trafalgar Library) and digital environments (Spline, Roblox, AR filters). A transmedia ghost story designed to feel immersive and intimate.
Choosing Our Story
DEFINE
Characters
Themes
The weight of memory
The futility of rewriting the past
The quiet act of letting go
Music as a link to what we’ve lost
Narrative Arc
Chapter 1: Discovery
Alex moves in, finds her lost ID
Uncovers a handwritten note from Ori
Ori appears via AR, asking for help
Chapter 2: The Quest
Music sheets and clues hidden in the house
An old poster behind which hides another note
A tour through the house’s empty rooms
Chapter 3: Revelation
Final scrapbooks reveal Emma’s message: “Let me go”
Ori’s last words. The song finished. Closure.
Narrative Structure
We used a physical-digital narrative loop:
Find a physical object → scan a QR code or link → unlock a digital clue → move to the next physical location.
These loops created a story rhythm, pacing out plot beats and interactions in both digital and real-world space.
Campus Use
We carefully placed artifacts in Sheridan’s J-Wing and Trafalgar Library. Each location was chosen for its narrative relevance — Ori’s note inside Orpheus Descending, a poster clue in J218, and Alex’s ID in the hallway. The scavenger hunt nature of these interactions blurred the line between fiction and daily campus life.
Orpheus
ORI
He/Him, 31 years old, 5’9”
Ori is unhappy with himself. He believes that his decisions are just and result in good things happening.
Ori thinks that life is unfair and out of balance, fairness comes at a cost but is possible if you are ready to sacrifice.
Ori treats others the way he wants to be treated.
User
ALEX
Alex is sometimes happy with herself, and believes she is right from time to time. She makes decisions that are considerate of others.
Alex believes life is neither fair nor unfair, you make your own opportunities and succeed or fail on your own.
Alex believes life treats others exactly the way they deserve. Alex would do the same, no more, no less.
She/Her, 27 years old, 5’4”
A gentle, well-meaning presence who appears at the start of the story through a letter and email, informing Alex she’s inherited the family house. Though her role is brief, she’s the one who unknowingly sets the story in motion, passing down a home still carrying echoes of the past.
Grandma
Ori’s lost love — the one he can’t let go of. Emma exists more as a memory than a character, appearing through faded notes, old photographs, and fleeting ghostly moments. While Ori clings to the hope of reunion, Emma’s message is clear: it’s time to move on.
Emma
DEVELOP
Physical Artifacts
Alex’s ID
To engage the audience from the very first scene, we designed, printed, and cut out fake IDs for Alex.
These IDs were used as a “lost” object in the story, subtly placed in the J-wing to be discovered during the moving scene.
For testing, we observed whether users noticed and interacted with the ID by monitoring scans and clicks on the link provided.
Initially using a QR code, we later switched to a direct web link to better support desktop access, improving usability and accessibility for our audience.
Photoshop
Ori’s Message
We created a physical note that users can find tucked inside a book at Sheridan College's Trafalgar Campus library. The note contains a handwritten-style message from Ori and a QR code that leads to the AR experience where the quest officially begins.
We chose to hide the note inside Orpheus Descending by Tennessee Williams— a meaningful placement, as our story, Echoes of the Past, was inspired by the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. This symbolic connection helps ground the story in familiar themes of love, loss, and longing.
Production Process
Distressing the Note
We started with a plain sheet of printer paper and transformed it into a worn, aged artifact to feel authentic within the story’s world. Our distressing techniques included:
Crumpling and tearing the edges
Staining with green tea and hojicha powder for discoloration
Slightly burning areas to create a timeworn, fragile look
These choices weren’t just for aesthetics. They helped the note feel like a relic from another time, immersing the user in Ori’s ghostly world from the moment they discovered it.
The Poster Clue
Tucked behind a poster in room J218 at Sheridan College’s Trafalgar Campus is another hidden message from Ori. This note acts as a guide, directing the user toward the final chapter of the story—an interactive online piano experience.
Alongside the note is one of the three music sheet pieces needed to complete Ori’s song. A small message on the back of the poster warns the user to collect all three clues before moving on, adding an extra layer of anticipation and intentional pacing to the journey.
To match the look and feel of Ori’s first message, we distressed the music sheet clue using the same aging techniques. These touches helped visually connect the poster clue to the rest of the story and reinforced the sense of continuity and mystery.
3
3
Digital Artifacts
Figma Prototype
Exploring Alex’s emotional journey following by her grandma’s email unfolding the mysterious house and the tragic story behind it.
Process of final product
Creating visual assets
Learning Figma tutorials on YouTube
Interactive prototype in progress
To introduce Ori and set the tone for the interactive story, we created an AR filter experience. This serves as the emotional foundation for the rest of the experience.
The Quest Begins
Adobe Aero
We chose Adobe Aero for its simple interface and smooth user flow, which made it easy to integrate the AR moment seamlessly into the storyline. It allowed us to quickly prototype and publish without compromising on visual quality or interactivity.
In the experience, a ghostly figure of a boy appears—Ori, who introduces himself and pleads for help reuniting with his lost love, Emma. He tasks the user (Alex) with finding three missing pieces of a music sheet that can complete a song tied to their past. This scene formally introduces both Ori as a character and the main emotional conflict of the narrative.
Production Process
Using a combination of 3D assets and semi-transparent PNG layers, we created a layered, ghostly visual for Ori. Stacking multiple images with varying opacities gave him a dynamic, ethereal appearance, enhancing the supernatural tone without needing complex modeling.
Visuals
Behaviours
We added interactive behaviours using proximity triggers and audio cues in Adobe Aero. When the user approaches, ambient music fades in, and Ori’s voice begins, drawing them into the story with a sense of mystery and urgency.
AI Voices
Ori’s voice was created using ElevenLabs’ AI voice generator. We fine-tuned the settings and prompt to craft a voice that felt old-timey, melancholic, and heartfelt—reflecting Ori’s longing and determination. The delivery was designed to tug at the user’s heartstrings and motivate them to take on the quest.
To guide players deeper into the story and reinforce the theme of discovery, we built an explorable Roblox house. This space acts as the next step in Alex’s journey, where players must navigate the house’s rooms to uncover the second music sheet. The house expands the worldbuilding and offers moments of quiet, eerie reflection between each discovery.
Roblox
We chose Roblox to create our VR experience, designing a tourable house that players access after the Spline room scene. This environment expands the narrative world, giving players the freedom to explore, uncover hidden clues, and search for the second music sheet. The house serves as both a setting and a storytelling device, gradually revealing fragments of Ori’s past through environmental details and interactive objects.
Production Process
Construction
We build our home in the largest plot of land available in Bloxburg. We had to purchase all the game passes in order to fully utilize the world to our advantage and build a house we were satisfied with. We were inspired by spanish revival + meditereanian arhcitecture which formed the look and feel of the home.
Roblox Studios
Digital Labour
In order to insert our music sheet clue. We had to create our own asset information on roblox studios that we could embed into Bloxburg. Creating a dedicated id for our asset allowed us to put it anywhere in the home.
Ontop of building/modelling the house from the ground up. Much like similar building game platforms, you are required in game currency to purchase building materials, paint, decorations, etc. We had to work a job to earn in-game money. The pizza delivery job was able to earn us over $1M in revenue and we leveled up past 30. The combined digital labour and construction took over 80+ hours to finish the house.
Bringing Alex’s World to Life
Spline 3D
We used Spline as the 3D platform to provide the audience with a deeper understanding of the main character, Alex, and her backstory.
By exploring her room from her perspective, users are invited to fully immerse themselves in the narrative.
Each interactive object was intentionally designed and integrated to reflect meaningful aspects of Alex’s personality and life, allowing the space itself to serve as a window into her character.
Process of final product
Unpacking
We created both 3D and 2D assets to distinguish between timelines. Using 3D elements for Alex’s present and past, and 2D elements to represent Ori.
Each object was intentionally chosen to reflect Alex’s growth as a musician and to support the narrative of completing Ori’s unfinished song.
The laptop maintains narrative continuity by displaying the same content as the previous scene, while the scrapbook serves as a piece of visual foreshadowing. Initially non-interactive, it becomes accessible later in the story, symbolising Alex’s ability to revisit the past and emotionally close a chapter in her life.
Lighting & Colour
While testing the 3D room, we found that the initial colour palette and lighting didn’t effectively convey the story’s tone or genre. The atmosphere felt disconnected from the emotional depth we aimed to communicate.
We continued to iterate on lighting and colour until the environment felt cohesive, enhancing the mood and better supporting the narrative experience.
Before
Erik Satie’s Gnossienne 1
1
2
3
Scene Assets
We designed a range of visual assets in Figma, Illustrator, and Photoshop to support the narrative and deepen the emotional resonance of the story.
Music notes and handwritten messages were styled with an antique aesthetic, symbolising Ori’s past and reinforcing the context of Alex moving into a century-old home.
Three primary scrapbook pages were developed, each centred on a key memory in Alex’s relationship: her first music show, their first Valentine’s Day, and their five-year anniversary. These scenes were chosen to highlight the growth and emotional depth of their connection over time.
These assets were crafted to foster empathy for Alex, offering insight into her grief and her motivation to support Ori. They also illustrate her path to healing. Showing that even through profound loss, there is space to move forward.
Template 1: The book moved too quick on scroll
Template By: cwthrs
Template 2 was perfect.
Template By: carrethomas7
The Interactions
To create the interactive scrapbook scene, we researched Spline’s capabilities by exploring its community page and tutorials. We analysed shared projects and attempted to replicate their mechanics, but were initially unsuccessful in recreating the animations.
Through continued exploration, we discovered the “Remix” button, which provided full access to editable templates. This enabled us to prototype the scrapbook interaction successfully.
Constraints & Solutions
Before
After
Reduced polygons = Squared wheels
Many objects required optimisation once the room had been exported.
To address this, we continuously reduced polygon counts, simplified materials, adjusted lighting, and compressed textures.
Despite these efforts, load times remained longer than ideal. To improve the user experience, we implemented a pre-load screen within Spline, which helps manage expectations and makes the wait feel more intentional.
Pre-load screen
We revisited the earlier scenes to add instructions that appear once the user discovers the first note. These added prompts guide the user toward the next steps in the experience.
A subtle hint encouraging users to write the notes down was also included, helping them stay engaged and ultimately complete their task more effectively.
Before
The Final Moment
After completing the quest and playing the final song, the user is rewarded with the end cutscene—a heartfelt conclusion to Ori and Emma’s story. Through a brief yet emotional exchange, their feelings surface, and the story finds closure with Emma’s long-awaited reveal.
Production Process
Visuals
To emphasize the spiritual and emotional tone of the ending, we created new illustrations of Ori and Emma in their glowing blue “spirit” forms. Emma’s design was especially intentional—her posture, turned back and looking over her shoulder, symbolizes longing and quiet disappointment, helping viewers understand her complex emotions without needing explicit exposition. A small note in the scene directs users back to the final Spline experience, allowing them to interact with the last part of the story world.
After Effects Animation
We used Adobe After Effects to animate the three collected music notes coming together. By adjusting keyframes for size and position, the notes slowly form a complete music sheet—a visual metaphor for Ori and Emma’s final connection.
AI Voice Integration
Using ElevenLabs’ AI voice generator, we created human-like voices for both Ori and Emma. We refined the settings through trial and error to strike the right emotional tone—melancholic, vulnerable, and heartfelt. This was crucial in delivering a performance that felt genuine and immersive.
Capcut Video Editing
All visuals, audio files, and animations were compiled in CapCut, where we added magical sparkle transitions, ambient background music, and sound effects to enhance the emotional weight of the scene. The nostalgic, bittersweet music supports the dialogue and elevates the storytelling, helping users feel a sense of closure.
Voice of Ori & Emma
Generating Ori’s voice...
Generating Emma’s voice...
We used ElevenLabs’ AI voice generator throughout the project to bring our characters to life. By fine-tuning voice settings and experimenting with tone and delivery, we created distinct voices for both Ori and Emma that captured their emotional depth. From the AR experience to the final cutscene, ElevenLabs helped us deliver natural, human-like dialogue that enhanced the immersive storytelling and emotional resonance of the entire experience.
ElevenLabs
Ai as a tool
Scriptwriting Support
The revised script
ChatGPT
We used ChatGPT to help draft the initial script for Ori and Emma’s dialogue. It gave us a strong structural foundation and helped us organize the emotional beats of the story. From there, we revised the script to feel natural and emotionally compelling—making sure the characters’ personalities and feelings came through authentically in their final exchange.
Interactive Piano
Process of final product
ChatGPT
Writing ChatGPT prompts to make the piano’s based code
First draft of the piano
Utilizing ChatGPT solving JavaScript issues
DELIVER
Full Experience
Project Management
We delivered a fully realized transmedia story:
Spline 3D environments
Roblox house tour
AR filters in Aero
Hand-distressed physical artifacts
AI-generated voice acting for Ori and Emma
Music puzzle cutscene
Work was divided across physical artifact creation, 3D asset design, AI voice generation, and narrative scripting. For project management, we broke down tasks by phases, updated progress regularly, and held weekly meetings for in depth critiques and planning.
These meetings helped us stay aligned, troubleshoot together, and adapt our direction when needed. Daily updates kept communication flowing, while optimisations like reducing polygon counts in Roblox and adding a additional screens and instructions in Spline improved overall performance.
Key Outcomes
Final Reflection
Successfully blended AI-assisted storytelling with physical-digital scavenger hunt mechanics
Created a multi-platform, immersive narrative without breaking player immersion
Positive user feedback on narrative pacing, AI voices, and emotional payoff
Echoes of the Past taught us how grief and memory can be made tangible through transmedia storytelling.
This project challenged us to balance creativity with technical constraints. We learned the importance of early testing, iterative design, and adapting quickly when tools like Spline or Roblox didn’t behave as expected. AI tools like ElevenLabs played a big role in elevating our narrative, and it was exciting to explore their creative potential for the first time.
We didn’t just build a game — we built a world you could step into, search through, and feel a part of.
And sometimes, the most important lesson in a ghost story isn’t how to bring someone back, but how to let them go.
AI as a Tool
How it helped us
INSIGHTS GLEANED
Learning outcomes
