Corona Haikus

When I moved from linear documentary production to the newly emerging field of interactive storytelling in early 2000, I was excited by the potentialities of the Web, especially the possibility of co-creation in factual storytelling. Looking back, I can clearly see that what attracted me was the exploration of how factual narratives could make use of two unique affordances of digital media: user agency and interactivity. More than twenty years later, I am still experimenting with ways to use interactivity to facilitate co-creation of reality and move away from the representational tendency of linear documentaries (Gaudenzi 2013). In this paper, I will use the Corona Haikus project (2020) to question the current understanding of user agency in participatory interactive narratives. I have chosen such project because I have personally been involved in it as a co-author, but also as a participant, and therefore I have both co-designed its user’s agency, and experienced it as a user. I will argue that agency in interactive documentary (i-doc) should be considered as a space of user empowerment that does not always have to affect the interactive narrative itself, because it can also be placed outside of the narrated story. The Corona Haikus example will be used to demonstrate that, in participatory narratives, deep individual and societal impact can be designed by mixing different types of mini-agencies and by orchestrating them as a journey of empowerment that is gradual and evolutive. Reflexive and evolutive agencies will be defined and presented as new ways to approach impact design in interactive narratives

The interactive documentary as a Living Documentary

Interactive documentaries are digital non-linear narratives that usenew media to relate and describe reality. Since this form of factual narrative has onlyestablished itself in the last ten years (we can track its emergence through the evolutionof Web 2.0), we can say that it is still in its infancy. As a result, a lack of terminology andunderstanding of the specificities of the form is flagrant. This article aims at positioninginteractive documentaries as a form of itself (and not as a continuation of lineardocumentaries). It also introduces the notion of “Living Documentary”, where interactivedocumentaries are seen as a “living forms”. Drawing on Maturana and Varela’s notion of“autopoiesis” and Deleuze’s assemblage theory the definition of “Living Documentary”wants to put the emphasis on the relational nature of interactive documentaries and ontheir capacity to engender change

The Living Documentary: from representing reality to co-creating reality in digital interactive documentary

This thesis concentrates on the emerging field of interactive documentaries. Digital interactive and networked media offer so many new possibilities to document reality that it is necessary to define what an interactive documentary is and whether there is any continuity with the linear documentary form. This research therefore proposes a definition of interactive documentaries and a taxonomy of the genre based on the idea of modes of interaction – where types of interactions are seen as the fundamental differentiator between interactive documentaries. Interactivity gives an agency to the user – the power to physically “do something”, whether that be clicking on a link, sending a video or re-mixing content - and therefore creates a series of relations that form an ecosystem in which all parts are interdependent and dynamically linked. It is argued that this human-computer system has many of the characteristics associated with living entities. It is also argued that by looking at interactive documentaries as living entities (Living Documentaries) we can see the relations that they forge and better understand the transformations they afford – on themselves and on the reality they portray. How does an interactive documentary change while it is being explored/used/co-created? To what extent do such dynamic relationships also change the user, the author, the code and all the elements that are linked through the interactive documentary? Those questions are discussed through the use of case studies chosen to illustrate the main interactive modes currently used in interactive documentaries. This thesis is a first step in exploring the multiple ways in which we participate, shape and are shaped by interactive documentaries. It argues that interactive documentaries are ways to construct and experience the real rather than to represent it

!F LAB: EXPERIÊNCIA DO USUÁRIO E RECURSOS NA METODOLOGIA WHAT IF IT PARA DESENVOLVIMENTO DE NARRATIVAS INTERATIVAS E IMERSIVAS

O artigo descreve o processo de pesquisa-ação voltado para concepção, implementação e experimentação reiterativas do programa de treinamento !F Lab e sua metodologia WHAT IF IT entre 2015 e 2018. Ambos são voltados para o desenvolvimento de projetos de narrativas digitais interativas e imersivas, orientados pela abordagem de Desing Thinking. O texto apresenta os resultados de questionários aplicados aos participantes do programa em 2017 na Europa. Também analisa os dados de entrevistas e questionários aplicados em 2018 aos participantes na Europa e aos participantes do !F Bug Lab, versão do treinamento concebida e realizada no Rio de Janeiro, Brasil

NRXN1 deletion and exposure to methylmercury increase astrocyte differentiation by different notch-dependent transcriptional mechanisms

Controversial evidence points to a possible involvement of methylmercury (MeHg) in the etiopathogenesis of autism spectrum disorders (ASD). In the present study, we used human neuroepithelial stem cells from healthy donors and from an autistic patient bearing a bi-allelic deletion in the gene encoding for NRXN1 to evaluate whether MeHg would induce cellular changes comparable to those seen in cells derived from the ASD patient. In healthy cells, a subcytotoxic concentration of MeHg enhanced astroglial differentiation similarly to what observed in the diseased cells (N1), as shown by the number of GFAP positive cells and immunofluorescence signal intensity. In both healthy MeHg-treated and N1 untreated cells, aberrations in Notch pathway activity seemed to play a critical role in promoting the differentiation toward glia. Accordingly, treatment with the established Notch inhibitor DAPT reversed the altered differentiation. Although our data are not conclusive since only one of the genes involved in ASD is considered, the results provide novel evidence suggesting that developmental exposure to MeHg, even at subcytotoxic concentrations, induces alterations in astroglial differentiation similar to those observed in ASD

Enabling Polyvocality in Interactive Documentaries through ‘Structural Participation’

Recent innovations in online, social and interactive media have led to the emergence of new forms of documentary, such as interactive documentaries (‘i-Docs’), with qualities that lend themselves to more open and inclusive production structures. Still, little is known about the experience of making and/or participating-in these kinds of documentary. Our two-year in-the-wild study engaged a large community-of-interest in the production of an i-Doc to explore the ethically-desirable yet challenging aim of enabling multiple subjects to have agency and control over their representation in a documentary. Our study reveals insights into the experiences of participating in an i-Doc and highlights key sociotechnical challenges. We argue that new sociotechnical infrastructure is needed, that frames both ‘executory’ and ‘structural’ forms of participation as symbiotic elements of a co-design process

Interactive documentary: Setting the field

This article articulates the authors’ combined vision behind convening i-Docs, the first international symposia to focus exclusively on the rapidly evolving field of interactive documentary. In so doing, it provides a case study of practice-driven research, in which discussion around the act of developing and making interactive documentaries is seen as being a necessary prerequisite to subsequent theorizing in relation to their impact on the continuing evolution of the documentary genre. As an essentially interdisciplinary form of practice, the article provides a conceptual overview of what interactive documentaries (i-docs) are, where they come from and what they could become. The case is made that i-docs should not be seen as the uneventful evolution of documentaries in the digital realm but rather as a form of nonfiction narrative that uses action and choice, immersion and enacted perception as ways to construct the real, rather than to represent it. The relationship between authorship and agency within i-docs is also considered as being central to our understanding of possibilities within a rapidly evolving field of study. © 2012 Intellect Ltd Article

I-docs special edition

This special edition presents a collection of articles that came out of i-Docs 2011, the first international symposium exclusively devoted to the rapidly evolving field of international documentary-making. The symposium was held at the Watershed Media Centre in Bristol, on behalf of the University of the West of England's Digital Cultures Research Centre. Its aim was to showcase recent projects and discuss the artistic, economic and political implications of new forms of factual representation. The articles, case study and interviews in this edition represent the range of themes and debates that that were raised and that can be seen as a unique snapshot of a complex and diverse field of study that is in its early stages of development

Ethics for Making

A space for students, teachers and makers to explore ethics in creative arts practice, using a short documentary film, “Justine” as a case study. How do the key themes influence your own practice? Consent, Collaboration, Freedom, Representation and Responsibility. ‘Ethics for Making’ was developed by Lotus Films UK in partnership with London College of Communication. https://ethics.arts.ac.uk/wpx