  This article proposes an innovative framework to explore large audiovisual
archives using Immersive Environments to place users inside a dataset and
create an embodied experience. It starts by outlining the need for such a novel
interface to meet the needs of archival scholars and the GLAM sector, and
discusses issues in the current modes of access, mostly restrained to
traditional information retrieval systems based on metadata. The paper presents
the concept of ``generous interfaces" as a preliminary approach to address
these issues, and argues some of the key reasons why employing Immersive Visual
Storytelling might benefit such frameworks. The theory of embodiment is
leveraged to justify this claim, showing how a more embodied understanding of a
collection can result in a stronger engagement for the public. By placing users
as actors in the experience rather than mere spectators, the emergence of
narrative is driven by their interactions, with benefits in terms of engagement
with the public and understanding of the cultural component. The framework we
propose is applied to two existing installations to analyze them in-depth and
critique them, highlighting the key directions to pursue for further
development.
