## 2 Background and Related Works
### The Status and Challenges of Story Co-Creation Design  
In recent years, story co-creation platforms have grown in popularity among users, providing them with opportunities to co-create and share stories. However, these story co-creation platforms still face challenges in terms of collaboration mechanisms and user engagement and immersion, fostering creativity, and fulfilling emotional and social experiences. Firstly, [PERSON] and [PERSON]'s (2022) study points out that many story co-creation tools do not adequately support synchronous collaboration, and co-creation platforms that lack synchronous collaboration features often do not allow for timely communication and coordination between users, leading to lagging creative progress and reduced efficiency [10]. In this case, users may feel frustrated by the inability to communicate and adjust story content in real time, which ultimately affects the continuity and overall quality of creation [10]. [PERSON] et al. concluded that traditional co-creation platforms are difficult to maintain long-term interest and engagement, and that often users are unable to enter into a sustained and in-depth'mind-flow state' [11; 12]. Second, studies such as [PERSON] et al. attribute declining user interest partly to inadequate interaction mechanisms and different levels of immersion that platforms can give [13]. Thirdly, [PERSON]'s (2015) study indicates that current story co-creation platforms have underdeveloped personalization systems [14]. This shortcoming, while emphasizing functionality and technical aspects, often undermines emotional and social connections, potentially alienating users [14].  
There is also some noteworthy work in recent research, with [PERSON]'s (2019) study discussing 'narrative technologies' that build immersive media by bringing audiences 'into the story' to make emotional connections, an approach seen as a new ecology of storytelling with an immersion esthetic and (hopefully) content engagement co-evolving [15]. Inducing a state of narrative transport, or 'flow', in which the user/participant is both immersed and actively involved in the storytelling [15]. In [PERSON] (2017) et al. investigated the establishment of a co-creation storytelling environment in which all project stakeholders, especially users, feel comfortable enough that multiple users are immersed in a context of co-creation, thus unlocking their valuable contributions [16]. Practical examples, such as the study by [PERSON] (2018) et al., construct a broadly defined fictional universe to foster adaptive narrative strategies [17]. Through fictions and creativity, participants were stimulated to reflect on social issues [17]. Another practical example, [PERSON] and [PERSON]'s (2024) study provides a case study of scripted collaborative learning strategies incorporated into digital storytelling (DST) on vocabulary acquisition, creativity, and writing skills of EFL college students [18]. The results indicated that the collaborative digital storytelling approach of writing scripts significantly improved students' vocabulary acquisition, graphic creativity, and writing skills. All of these story co-creation studies enhanced users' skills and creative expression through narrative design [18].  
Based on the aforementioned analyses, this study asserts the significance of emotional engagement and user interaction design in fostering deeper environments for collaborative story co-creation. While previous research has delved into understanding and empathy within story co-creation platforms, limited attention has been given to investigating the impact of collaborative, gamified narrative interactions within virtual reality settings on enhancing engagement, immersion and creativity, and addressing emotional and social requirements.