Designing Interactive Storytelling: A Virtual Environment for Personal Experience Narratives

We describe an ongoing collaboration with the District Six Museum, in Cape Town, aimed at designing a storytelling prototype for preserving personal experience narratives. We detail the design of an interactive virtual environment (VE) which was inspired by a three month ethnography of real-life oral storytelling. The VE places the user as an audience member in a virtual group listening to two storytelling agents capable of two forms of interactivity: (1) User Questions: users can input (via typing) questions to the agent; and (2) Exchange Structures: the agent poses questions for users to answer. Preliminary results suggest an overall positive user experience, especially for exchange structures. User questions, however, appear to require improvement

Theatre/Games: The Poetics, Ludology & Narrative in Video Game and Dramatic Structure

This paper discusses the potential avenues of relationship between interactive media, particularly video games, and more traditional forms of theatrical production. It looks at the major theoretical paradigms of game structure in comparison to Aristotle\u27s Poetics to find points of overlap between these two seemingly divergent entities, video games and theatre. As a specific point of reference, it also examines how my own artistic work has roots in both these worlds, and how the deepened understanding of their structures might contribute to my own artistic development

Episode 34: Stella Sung: Combining Art and Technology

Season three of Knights Do That, UCF’s official podcast, returns with its seventh guest, Stella Sung, a renowned composer, Pegasus Professor, trustee chair professor, and director of the Center for Research and Education in Arts, Technology and Entertainment (CREATE) at UCF. Sung started her career at UCF as a music professor and now teaches in the School of Visual Arts and Design, where she encourages students to stay on the cutting edge of art across all forms. Here she shares the importance of integrating science and the arts, as well as her research on using virtual and augmented reality in the classical concert setting

Exploring effective storytelling guidelines for cinematic virtual reality

Content creators have been exploring ways to use virtual reality (VR) as an effective storytelling tool. The term cinematic virtual reality (CVR) was then created to describe the kind of VR experience that is produced using pre-rendered content with lengthier and complete story structures, with the interaction design that enables viewers to actively choose where to look. Initially, creators of CVR content began by transferring storytelling grammars and techniques from mature media, such as cinema and theater. However, specific challenges for CVR followed, including the narrative paradox (NP) (which is the conflict and tension arising between authorial control and viewer agency), the fear of missing out (FOMO), and the discrepancy between viewer expectations on agency and the system’s interactive capacity. Because CVR is a type of immersive experience, viewers are also inclined to interact with the story world freely. To achieve a final product that is a successful and engrossing storytelling experience, creators must address the NP and FOMO issues and establish a design balance between authorial control and viewer participation in terms of narrative progression. To investigate the issues raised above and assess potential solutions, several user studies were undertaken in this thesis. A human body-language-based attention guidance cue set called Action Units (AUs) was created to address the FOMO issue. It was then compared with two other commonly used synthetic cues for user experiences. According to the findings, the use of AUs in CVR content can boost viewer enjoyment and engagement with the story. The AUs were also favored by viewers for their diegetic qualities and by creators for the simplicity of use. Moving on to the NP issue, the second user study sought to identify the upper limit of a viewer’s desire to actively interact and participate in the narration. Results indicated that viewer control is advised for CVR projects. To handle viewer curiosity and motivate them to interact freely, creators must carefully set up the interactors. Based on the findings, a coherent framework was researched and developed by tying together previously acquired knowledge and rules that were dispersed to various components of producing CVR with the workflow that a creator uses to build the experience. The procedure resulted in a formalized framework called the Adaptive Playback Control (APC) for CVR. The APC starts by guiding content preparation by highlighting the need for applying diegetic attention guidance cues. It also includes guidelines for interactive design by emphasizing the need for design considerations regarding the harmony between viewer and creator roles in directing the narrative development, and raising the visibility of interaction affordances in the immersive storytelling experience. Then, a real-world case study of applying the APC to an immersive Māori (New Zealand indigenous people) storytelling experience was presented. The case study examined whether viewer-participatory design, including profiling viewers and the strategies to introduce narrative variations, was culturally appropriate. In this case study, personalized variations were added to CVR by taking into account both the unique demands of each viewer and their participation in the storytelling process. Insights from the case study showed that for creators to safely guarantee that experiences will live up to viewer expectations and be entertaining and diverse, individual users must also be taken into account from the very beginning of content design. Finally, this thesis offers the Adaptive Playback Control (APC), a novel frame- work for those who create CVR experiences. They can follow the framework’s instructions to create materials specifically designed for an immersive experience utilizing pre-rendered content, such as 360-degree videos. It intends to address the FOMO issue and help creators produce CVR experiences with correct viewer interaction and integrated viewer personalization, resolving the problem of NP and improving the overall experience. This thesis also employed a case study to show how adaptable the framework is and how it may be used in a larger context, in and beyond the cultural heritage sector

Imulating storyteller-audience interactions in digital storytelling: questions, exchange structures & story objects

Includes bibliographical references.This work revolves around the design and evaluation of digital storytelling simulating real personal storytelling. Study One was an ethnography, of real storytellers, which revealed types of narratives, dynamism and interactivity in storytelling. This was used to design digital storytelling, which simulated the behaviours of real storytellers. Three design ideas, questions, exchange structures and story objects , were prototyped and evaluated in Studies Two, Three and Four. Study One took place over three months at the District Six Museum, Cape Town. We studied narratives from three guides about their Apartheid-era experiences. Discourse analyses showed the narratives: (a) were structured as clauses, each relating a story event or thought; (b) varied minimally across retellings; (c) incorporated storyteller-audience interactions (periodic questions) between clauses which matched teacher-student interactions described by Sinclair & Coulthard (1975); and, in exchange structures, guides periodically asked audiences questions; and (d) incorporated the museum exhibit and memory box objects. The digital storytelling design focused on: simulating questions and exchange structures; and story objects, allowing user-triggered narratives. We implemented a virtual environment containing two interactive storyteller agents, and several story objects. Study Two (n=101) manipulated the effect of questions and exchange structures on story experience. Study Three (n=69) manipulated the effect of story objects on story experience. Story experience was composed of: interest in the narrative context, enjoyment of and engagement in the storytelling, and the storytelling realism. These were measured with a questionnaire created for these studies; psychometric analysis showed it to be valid and reliable. Linear models showed questions increased interest (F =5.72, p =0.02) and engagement (F= 3.92, p =0.05) while exchange structures increased interest ( F =6, p =0.02), enjoyment ( F =4.14, p <0.04) and engagement ( F =10.53, p =0.002). Usage logs showed participants interacted readily with both while the agents could answer a mean of 35% of user questions. Story objects did not impact story experience. Study Two and Three's participants reported high story experience scores and predominantly positive qualitative feedback. In Study Four (n=93), the prototype was exhibited at District Six Museum for nine days. We observed visitor interaction, logged usage automatically and gathered voluntary feedback, which was largely positive. Visitors tended to engage passively with the prototype and linear models showed age was a predictor of the number of question ( F= 31.75, p <0.001) and exchange structure ( F =4.45, p <0.04) inputs. Additionally, multiple visitors would use the prototype simultaneously. We conclude that integrating different methodologies allowed us to simulate real storyteller-audience interactions and that the questions and exchange structure interactions we designed improved experiences of digital personal narratives. This design may be replicated by others seeking to similarly preserve the experience of personal storytelling

Once Upon Online: Conversations With Professional Storytellers About Adapting From In-Person to Virtual Storytelling Performance

This study examines how professional storytellers negotiated a new storytelling stage—the videoconference platform—as they pivoted their careers during mandated shutdowns due to COVID-19. An examination of the literature reveals extremely limited research involving either professional storytellers or live virtual storytelling. After interviewing five professional storytellers, I analyzed their stories through narrative inquiry. Analysis revealed that the storytellers negotiated the limitations and affordances of Zoom and adapted their storytelling to successfully connect with their audiences. Through crafting a narrative of their stories, I was able to represent their emotions, unique experiences, and abilities to adapt to the online environment. Their stories document significant changes in the art of storytelling during a historic era. This research reveals how storytellers can master the techniques of online storytelling and effectively tell stories to synchronous virtual audiences

The Power of Digital Storytelling to Influence Human Behaviour

Abstract The aim of this multi-disciplinary research was to explore the power of digital, interactive or participatory storytelling to influence human behaviour in the context of public health. It addressed three related questions: RQ1: Does digital storytelling have the power to influence human behaviour? RQ2: If digital storytelling can influence human behaviour then how might it do so? RQ3: Is a ‘digital storytelling framework’ feasible as an approach to behaviour change? Four linked qualitative studies were conducted: a scoping review, in-depth interviews with 11 international ‘digital storytellers’, two case studies of ‘digital storytelling designed to influence human behaviour’ and six focus groups with 35 adolescent ‘digital story participants’. The research found that: RA1: Digital storytelling appears to influence human behaviour. RA2: Digital storytelling appears to influence by engaging at ever deepening emotional and non-conscious levels. Commerce appears to understand and embrace this power: But public health appears to rely on traditional uni-directional, non-participatory message led approaches and appeals to cognition. This presents threats and opportunities to public health. RA3: The proposed ‘digital storytelling framework’ is feasible and desirable as a behaviour change paradigm. The thesis concludes that Digital Storytelling appears to influence human behaviour. It appears to derive its power to influence by facilitating unprecedented depths of emotional engagement potentially en route to behaviour change. The current imbalance in how commerce and public health corral the power of digital storytelling suggests that the latter might embrace its potential; and tougher regulation might constrain how the former uses it to market harmful products. The proposed digital storytelling framework makes a valuable creative, analytical and critical contribution to both of these ends. Its core principles have informed the design of numerous story-led digital health interventions; and they now sit at the core of a counter-marketing campaign to reduce harmful effects of marketing on children’s health