Scalar Class Project: Loss

Patient Zero

After performing a few more experiments and fleeing to London, Dr. Grubel performs a lobotomy on his first and only patient. The skeleton of Patient Zero allows the viewer to see the gradual decent into madness and the loss of sanity. We can correlate Patient Zero’s condition to which part of the body we click on. For example, the skull represents the beginning of the procedure, the stomach represents patient zero’s growing hunger and the feet represent the results of the procedure. By going down the skeleton, the viewer gets a feeling of anticipation before investigating the next part of the body.

Something that immediately stands out is the background sound effects. The steady rainfall, wind, and the occasional strange noise like a cat meowing or screaming sets up a terrifying, almost nightmarish atmosphere. Similar to movies and video game music, the background music and sound effects in a piece of electronic literature is crucial to its overall immersion. Zhang and Fu state, “Video game audio aims to combine usability with presence and immersion in the fictional game world. The overall soundscape contributes to a sense of presence or even immersion in a game by creating an illusion of the game world as an actual space.” (Zhang and Fu 2). Zhang and Fu argue that audio in video games allow the player to feel as if they were “inside” of the game, like the game offered some space that the player can jump into and get immersed in. While electronic literature is not exactly the same as video games, I agree with Zhang and Fu. The audio presented in “The Lobotomy” seems to offer almost a third dimension beyond just the visualization on the page.

William Siege alludes to the same effect that music can have on electronic literature in his analysis of  Dawn


By Kyle Yuan

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