by Brock Horning | November 2025

“Stornaway was exactly what I was looking for all in one stop. It’s an easy-to-use web platform that doesn’t need coding, supports any video ratio and content, takes in button images and provides a Unity plugin to create VR and desktop apps. I was able to intuitively transform what were once scattered videos into one unique interactive documentary.”

Portal-Lore: Naica Cave creator, Noura Zaher

An immersive exploration of Extended Reality’s (XR) possibilities. MSc student, Noura Zaher, has crafted a mixed-format interactive experience that draws you in to Mexico’s mystical Naica Cave. It’s a prime example of how interactive storytelling techniques can enhance and enrich viewer engagement.

• Portal-Lore: Naica Cave explores an illustrated version of the famous cave system in Mexico in 360 video and Virtual Reality, hosted on Stornaway.io
• The mixed media documentary was part of a wider multidisciplinary immersive project looking to evaluate the use of Extended Reality (XR) technologies, designed for Noura’s MSc thesis.
• For Noura, this was only possible with Stornaway’s unique ability to create interactive VR experiences with no coding needed.
• Bringing together art, education and storytelling through technology has had an overwhelmingly positive reaction and significantly increased engagement and curiosity in Noura’s thesis.

Portal Lore: Naica Cave is an immersive 360 short documentary exploring an illustrated version of the famed cave system in Mexico.

The experience is just one element of a wider multidisciplinary immersive project that aimed to research the impacts of XR technology on narrative illustration. Noura wanted to explore how these tools can enhance storytelling and viewer experience. The full project presents seven digitally illustrated fantasy posters of strange locations and phenomena around the world, complemented by augmented and virtual reality experiences.

To explore the imaginative visualization of Naica Cave, Noura puts the audience in the shoes of an explorer who enters through a portal to witness an awe-inspiring sight. The narrative enhances the experience, enriching it to foster audience engagement and curiosity.

Time to decide! A still from Portal-Lore: Naica Cave.

Noura had already completed two VR experiences for the same project – a 360 YouTube 2D animation and an interactive 3D scene that viewers could explore. The third exploration of virtual reality needed to include interactive options and dialogue.

In creating this project, Noura had several false starts. Some platforms didn’t support 360 video or required hours of research, a medley of apps, and technical upskilling. That is, until she found an intuitive platform to host the project, Stornaway.io.

For Noura, Stornaway presented the perfect solution for several reasons:

A clear and easy-to-use story map

A labelled storyboard was mapped out in Stornaway to plan the different journeys through the experience and each decision point. This could then be used to design and craft the animations at key points throughout the journey, such as the two contrasting endings. The final 2D/3D mixed documentary consisted of 10 story islands.

From there, the Unity plug-in made it easy to turn the mixed-format documentary into a VR app to show at Noura’s MSc exhibition.

Connects easily with other software and platforms

The 360 scenes for Portal-Lore were digitally illustrated in Adobe Photoshop and animated in Adobe After Effects, with some 3D scenes modelled in Blender and extra UI elements designed in Adobe Illustrator. When working across a tech stack like this, it’s crucial to know that all your platforms can connect and work together seamlessly.

Stornaway is designed to work with any other creation and design software and platform, making it simple to bring 360 video and 3D modelled scenes from Adobe Creative Cloud and Blender.

Time to decide! A still from Portal-Lore: Naica Cave.

Huge flexibility to meet project requirements

Stornaway is designed to meet the needs of a huge range of interactive projects.

For Portal-Lore, this included key features such as working with 360 aspect ratios, accepting custom button images, and a Unity plug-in to create VR and desktop apps without any coding knowledge needed. This allows a series of scattered videos to become one unique interactive documentary.

There has been an overwhelmingly positive response to Portal-Lore: Naica Cave during Noura’s MSc exhibition. In her own words:

“The captivating environments combined with the interactive storytelling of the Naica Cave VR experience enthralled visitors. For most, this was a very new art experience. It felt rewarding to see the reactions of awe when visitors viewed the 360 scenes of the shining crystals through the headset. Some expressed that they found it fun to interact with the storyline while learning about the cave. 

Visitors were intrigued by the novel way of presenting art, education and storytelling through technology, significantly increasing engagement and curiosity.”

“Stornaway was exactly what I was looking for all in one stop. It’s an easy-to-use web platform that doesn’t need coding, supports any video ratio and content, takes in button images and provides a Unity plugin to create VR and desktop apps. I was able to intuitively transform what were once scattered videos into one unique interactive documentary. This enabled users to take part in the adventure, making the learning process more interesting. The Stornaway team were also very responsive and attentive to my project’s theme and provided technical support when needed.”

Explore the possibilities of immersive media to open new levels of engagement and curiosity within your audience. Whether you’re planning to use VR, 360 or mobile-friendly video, you’ll find everything you need on Stornaway.