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StoryTec: A Digital Storytelling Platform for the Authoring and Experiencing of Interactive and Non-Linear Stories
Abstract
Recently, within the information society and the up-coming, prospering creative industries, a lot of research has been investigated into Storytelling systems and authoring tools for the creation and representation of Storytelling based scenarios in a broad range of application domains, e.g. marketing and advertisement, training and simulation, E-Learning, edutainment, serious games. Prominent examples are the EU funded projects U-CREATE, nm2 and INSCAPE, whose global aim was to allow even non-specialists the easy and efficient creation of interactive stories for various application domains. Based on the achieved RTD results of these projects, this paper introduces StoryTec as Digital Storytelling platform for the authoring and experiencing of interactive, non-linear stories. Apart from a brief description of the StoryTec platform as a whole and the difference to the INSCAPE approach, this paper focuses on two specific modules: The Story Editor and ICML as standardized descriptive format for any interactive stories.
... Both explicit and implicit approaches commonly complement one another in a large proportion of the reviewed environments (15 publications; 34.88%) [25], [27], [28], [29], [30], [31], [32], [33], [54], [55], [56], [57], [58], [59], [60], yet they frequently use only one of them to collect the learner model. In fact, most of the publications (22 publications; 69.77%) [26], [34], [35], [36], [37], [38], [39], [40], [41], [42], [43], [44], [45], [46], [48], [49], [50], [51], [52], [53], [61], [62] use only the implicit approach whereas there are no studies that use only the explicit approach. ...
... The most used approach for learner modeling is the feature-based one (19 publications; 44.18%) whereas the stereotype approach is another frequently used approach (9 publications; 20.93%) [25], [30], [33], [35], [39], [40], [41], [52], [59]. Among the feature-based approaches, adaptive 3D VLEs have used several techniques such as overlay models (8 publications; 18.60%) [28], [29], [34], [36], [37], [44], [47], [48], weighted vectors (3 publications; 6.97%) [26], [31], [46], and goal/task catalogs (7 publications; 16.27%) [32], [43], [45], [49], [51], [53], [57]. Surprisingly, only 1 publication (2.32%) [27] has reported the use of a combined approach mixing both the stereotype for avoiding the cold start problem and the weighted-vectors one to retrieve appropriate feedback. ...
... On the other hand, 15 publications (15.34%) [38], [42], [50], [54], [55], [56], [57], [58], [60], [61], [64], [65], [66], [67], [68] do not provide enough information to determine the learner modeling approach that they have used. ...
New ways of learning have emerged in the last years by using computers in education. For instance, many Virtual Learning Environments have been widely adopted by educators, obtaining promising outcomes. Recently, these environments have evolved into more advanced ones using 3D technologies and taking into account the individual learner needs and preferences. This focus has led a shift to more personalized learning approaches, requiring that the environments adapt themselves to the learner. Then, many adaptive 3D environments have explored adaptive features to create new and enhanced learning experiences in different contexts. However, very little is known about both what factors are involved with adaptive 3D environments to achieve learning benefits and what assessment factors are present in current studies. For this reason, this review analyzes the recent publications on Adaptive 3D Virtual Learning Environments. Findings have revealed that these have covered factors on defining the learner’s model, the instructional strategies and contents, and the adaptations mechanisms. Nearly half of the environments have addressed thorough assessments whereas the rest has not reported any evaluation at all. Moreover, when they report assessment, promising outcomes have also been shown not only in multiple domains of knowledge but also at various stages of education. These findings indicate that the field of Adaptive 3D Virtual Learning Environments is an active and ongoing area, and this study highlights several promising directions and suggestions for future research.
... At present, there exist several approaches that can help in improving social skills among children, such as, behavioural skill training through instructions [35], social media [36], computer-based multiplayer gaming environment, storytelling [37], etc. With the help of behavioural skill training, teachers often asked the children to identify a problem in a social situation and to solve the same [35]. ...
... Also, literature tells us that using story-telling mode could help in nurturing social skills through gaming platform [20,37], thereby easily connecting one to real-world social contexts [20]. These social contexts might relate to the situations that one came across in daily life such as nature (e.g., landscape scenery, park, forest, etc.), open space social sites (e.g., roadway, bus-stop, railway station, etc.) or closed space social contexts (e.g., restaurant, movie theater, classroom etc.). ...
With the emergence of technological expansion, the present generation has received advantages beyond imagination. While this development has bene�ted in building up a sophisticated society, the same is disturbing the social norms and community living. Notably, young individuals or children who spend more time on electronic and computing devices are becoming socially detached. This adversely affects social communication skills. To deal with such problems, investigators have started using technology for pedagogical purpose and also for training skills to children.
Several studies have shown the effectiveness of story-telling platforms implemented using the computational power. An important pre-cursor to story-telling is to create a story. Most of the existing platforms allow a single user to either author a story on his/her own or, the system itself provides an existing story for the user. For nurturing effective social communication skills while using the digital media, platforms need to encourage multiple users to understand each other's thought and collaboratively create a story. Also, based on the created story, the users need to be offered stories with variations in terms of story-telling thereby making the collaborative sessions interesting.
Motivated by this need, in my research work, we have developed a collaborative computer-based environment that supports story-authoring as well as story-telling based on the story created by the users (players henceforth). We used Virtual Reality (VR) based setting for the rendering effect. While the players collaboratively created a story, an arti�ficial intelligent engine of our system kept a track of the order of story components chosen by the players to get an estimate of whether the players followed each other's thoughts. Subsequently, the engine computed the overall performance score based on individual player's performance score and the total task completion time. Additionally, based on the order of the story components chosen by the players while authoring a story, the engine estimated points in story-creation where the players did not understand each other's thoughts. We conducted an experimental study with typically developing individuals of varying age groups recruited from my neighbourhood. The results indicate the feasibility of our system to quantify the varying task performance ability in a collaborative setting along with its implications on individuals of varying age groups.
Additionally, such a system can hold promise in encouraging one to understand other's
thoughts while promoting social skill learning.
... Few authoring tools (e.g. [17,29,41]) allow the implementation of SGs with minimal or no programming, being replaced by various techniques such as using visual languages and GUIs. Their goals are to enable a quick and easy implementation of SGs. ...
... Few SG authoring tools that aim to simplify and reduce the cost of implementing SGs can be identified in the literature. StoryTec [17] and e-Adventure [41] are adventure-based game authoring tools that use the concept of writing stories to develop game content. The tool e-Adventure implements a graph-based visual language similar to the Unified Modelling Language (UML) format to develop the story structure of games. ...
Although multiple studies have shown the efficacy of Serious Games (SGs) in improving students' performance and learning experience, the wide use of SGs is yet to be realised. One of the challenges towards the adoption of SGs can be attributed to the complex and costly development process. In this paper, we present ARQS (Authentic Role-playing-game Quest System) tool, an educator-oriented authoring tool we developed for supporting the implementation of a serious role-playing-game (RPG). The authoring tool consists of features that simplify the creation of important RPG components e.g. avatars, virtual world. Furthermore, the authoring process employs block-based programming to configure aspects of RPG such as creating quests. The concept is adopted in order to provide a platform where educators without programming knowledge are able to use. A formative evaluation was conducted with ten educators from secondary and university levels, using a low-fidelity prototype. Outcomes from the evaluation showed promising results, attesting the potential of ARQS as an educational tool for the creation of interactive learning instructions in the form of real-world scenarios embedded within a role-playing-game.
... Content assessment refers to the ability to test the learning outcomes within the system. The following authoring frameworks are developed to support the creation of a learning application that uses storytelling as a component: Adventure Author (Robertson and Nicholson, 2007), Storytelling Alice (Kelleher et al., 2007), StoryTec (Göbel et al., 2008), <e-Adventure> (Torrente et al., 2010), WEEV Marchiori et al., 2012), Thinking Worlds, Scratch. ...
... StoryTec (Göbel et al., 2008) is a visual programming language for authoring and experiencing interactive or non-linear stories to encourage creativity rather than educational game. This framework introduces storytelling concepts into the game or the story development model which includes both an authoring environment and a runtime engine. ...
Digital heritage applications have been widely developed through Virtual Reality (VR) technologies as known as Virtual Museum (VM). Devices and digital contents are significantly increasing which support interaction system to immerse users into VM. In order to develop interactive application, interaction is always defined before creating application up to selected platform. It depends on a given content and devices which is limited when considering switching devices. Nowadays VR technologies is rapid changing, a platform to develop application should support devices changing and also to optimize interaction system to be used in VM. However, both devices organization and contents structure on a platform is still lacking efficient management to support alternative interaction in general.We proposed a novel method for developing a VM application providing digital storytelling template to create interactive content and adaptive interaction system where an application is exportable into any device. We provide flexible editing tools for developer to manage the content structure. The interaction usage will be interpreted into a high-level abstraction and run on a low-level hardware device where interactions have been adapted. Storytelling will specify interaction behavior which can drive interaction in a virtual scene even device may be switched. Our adaptive interaction system supports to identify devices capabilities and storytelling expectation which could be selected for efficiency learning system and improve level of immersion. This implementation is useful to deploy not only for the development of digital heritage applications, but also for industrial engineering where interactive content and collaborative working are required.
... The scope varies from professional training to conflicts management, but these games are largely based on similar mechanics. Works such as Scribe [30], Art-E-Fact [20], StoryTec [15,32] and Scenejo [48] provide development environments for the creation and customization of interactive stories for users with basic programming knowledge. Their use is simple and intuitive, however these platforms allow the development of a pre-defined type of game, and thus fix a strong constraint to the EUD potential. ...
... The research described in the literature review introduced this dilemma. The interactive storytelling approach [15,20,30,48] proposed fairly simple interfaces, but these strongly limit the outcomes of the user interaction. More technical tools, such as Shai and BehaviorShop [11,18], allow a higher degree of customization, but they also require an in-depth learning of the system. ...
End-User Development (EUD) is a topic that finds application in varied domains but so far it has only been marginally considered in digital games research. However, there are several games that would benefit from a EUD approach, in particular for those games designed for a purpose other than entertainment, such as learning or training. These processes are permeated by large individual variation; as a consequence, the teacher must have a control over the game to use it like any other educational resource. In this chapter we present the state of the art in research on EUD for serious games from academic and industrial perspectives. We discuss a case study investigating the design process and evaluation of the Actors’ Programming Environment (APE), a EUD tool for modelling the behaviour of Non-Player Characters (NPCs). Starting from the literature review and empirical experience gathered over a time span of two years, the chapter provides a set of guidelines for the design of EUD tools for serious games, reflecting on their importance and complexity. It concludes with a set of heuristics that may advance research in the topic.
... By using stories as a basis for learning and problem-solving, students can apply CT concepts in a way that is engaging and relevant to their disciplinary learning. Interactive fiction can provide opportunities to students to apply CT concepts in a subject context by allowing students to make choices and see the consequences of those choices (Göbel et al., 2008;Yeni, Nijenhuis-Voogt, Hermans, & Barendsen, 2022). An interactive fiction story in language arts might involve writing a story with branching paths, using CT concepts to program the story's structure and choices. ...
... In the search for tools to help developing a SG, we found the proposal of [23], which presents StoryTec, a digital storytelling platform for the creation and experimentation of non-linear interactive stories. The platform focuses on two specific parts: the story editor and the standardized descriptive format for an interactive story. ...
Serious games (SG), (video games with an educational purpose), provide teachers with tools to strengthen their students’ knowledge. Developing a SG requires knowledge, time, and effort. As a result, specialized tools to aid in the development process are needed. This work presents a model for the development of SG in the platformer genre. A tool implementing the model is introduced as a proof of concept. A SG was generated using this tool, which in turn was evaluated in terms of gameplay, mechanics, story, and usability. The evaluation results show that the SG has the minimum elements requested by an audience of students, who were expecting a game with both entertaining and educational value. Furthermore, the results are satisfactory in three out of four areas, showing that there are opportunities for improvement regarding the game’s story. Our work intends to improve the development times of new SG, as well as to make them easier to develop by both software engineers and teachers who wish to implement them in their classrooms.
... Another authoring tool, ExProtoVAR [23], generates interactive experiences in AR featuring development tools specially designed for non-programmers, without necessarily a technical background with AR interfaces. In the field of interactive storytelling, StoryTec [14] platform facilitates an authoring tool to generate and represent storytelling-based scenarios in various domains (serious games, e-learning and training simulations). ...
Virtual reality (VR) has re-emerged as a low-cost, highly accessible consumer product, and training on simulators is rapidly becoming standard in many industrial sectors. However, the available systems are either focusing on gaming context, featuring limited capabilities or they support only content creation of virtual environments without any rapid prototyping and modification. In this project, we propose a code-free, visual scripting platform to replicate gamified training scenarios through rapid prototyping and VR software design patterns. We implemented and compared two authoring tools: a) visual scripting and b) VR editor for the rapid reconstruction of VR training scenarios. Our visual scripting module is capable of generating training applications utilizing a node-based scripting system, whereas the VR editor gives user/developer the ability to customize and populate new VR training scenarios directly from the virtual environment. We also introduce action prototypes, a new software design pattern suitable to replicate behavioral tasks for VR experiences. In addition, we present the training scenegraph architecture as the main model to represent training scenarios on a modular, dynamic and highly adaptive acyclic graph based on a structured educational curriculum. Finally, a user-based evaluation of the proposed solution indicated that users—regardless of their programming expertise—can effectively use the tools to create and modify training scenarios in VR.
... Sometimes software is available upon request from the authors. StoryTec [20], for instance, used to provide a software request form, but has since removed it in 2015. The authors followed protocol outlined by ASAPS [24] website for requesting the software, but were unsuccessful in obtaining it. ...
... As a result, the game did not depend on the lifecycle of game engines, which can be discontinued or also be subject to aspects of software aging. Similar technical dependencies would arise through the use of effort-reducing authoring environments, such as StoryTec [21] or frameworks in general [22]. On the other hand, the game retains its "retro charm" through graphics and interaction patterns, which can be regarded as both motivating and demotivating. ...
MOBILITY is a digital simulation game about traffic system planning,
which has been designed as a serious game with the purpose of education and awareness raising. Since the year 2000 it has been used more than a million times in both educational and entertainment contexts. The production of digital serious games, such as MOBILITY, requires a lot of effort. Therefore, serious games are valuable investments that are expected to be of high benefit during their technical lifetime. Much has been written about the effectiveness of the use of serious games and efficiency of game production, however later phases of serious games’ lifecycles are comparatively unknown. Based on a lifecycle description of MOBILITY, a categorization of lifetime-determining factors called game aging is developed. The categorization is intended to serve as methodological framework to guide lifecycle management of serious games, such as assessing the status of a serious game regarding the categories of game aging. Game aging distinguishes three categories: technology, domain knowledge and user experience. For each of these categories the specific characteristics of MOBILITY are described and discussed. Regarding methodology, the evaluations are based on expert interviews, questionnaires and guided interviews. In summary, after two decades of application MOBILITY is still an effective educational tool for traffic system planning, although each of the examined categories shows signs of game aging. Further research is needed to
systematize the framework of game aging.
... hypermédia, exercices, etc.) à des systèmes plus complexes comme les tuteurs intelligents, les micromondes 24 , les simulations ou les jeux éducatifs. , SimQuest, un outil auteur pour configurer des simulations en physique (Joolingen et Jong, 2003) ou StoryTec, un outil auteur pour la création de mini jeux éducatifs type quizz ou puzzle (Göbel et al., 2008). En France, plusieurs travaux sont également conduits dans cette direction, à l'image de LEGADEE, un outil auteur pour soutenir la conception collaborative d'une équipe de conception pluridisciplinaire (enseignants, game-designers, programmeurs, etc.) (Marfisi-Schottman, 2012). ...
L’essor des périphériques mobiles (ex. tablettes, smartphones) ainsi que leurs applications pédagogiques et ludiques ont contribué à la naissance des Jeux Éducatifs Mobiles (JEM). De nombreux chercheurs ont prouvé les effets positifs de ces JEM sur la motivation des apprenants et même sur certains apprentissages. Cependant, l’utilisation de JEM en contexte scolaire reste très limitée. En effet, les JEM existants, parfois assez coûteux, sont souvent conçus pour un domaine très spécifique, et n’offrent donc pas de possibilités de réutilisation. De plus, les outils auteur existants sont, soit riches en fonctionnalités mais nécessitent un investissement important des enseignants pour être pris en main, soit simples à utiliser mais ne permettent pas de concevoir des JEM qui répondent aux besoins pédagogiques. Pour s’attaquer à ces problématiques, nous proposons JEM iNVENTOR, un outil auteur de JEM, fondé sur une approche de conception gigogne, destiné aux enseignants, conservateurs de musée, ou toute personne non-informaticienne, qui souhaitent scénariser leurs propres JEM et les déployer sur les systèmes mobiles.Le modèle de conception gigogne a été validé par une série d’expérimentations auprès d’une vingtaine d’enseignants ayant des niveaux d’expertises et des domaines d’enseignement très variés. Nous avons également mené des expérimentations de terrain, auprès d’environ 1500 étudiants et élèves, afin d’évaluer la qualité des JEM créés avec JEM iNVENTOR ainsi que leur impact sur les apprenants.
... An approach developed by the authors in this field is the authoring system StoryTec (Göbel et al. 2008), which integrates the concept of narrative game-based learning objects (Garris et al. 2002) in the course of the EU funded project 80Days for configuring a game which can be adapted based on a user's input at runtime along the axes of storytelling, gaming (using player modeling) and learning. The structure of a game is determined in the authoring tool using the Story Editor, in which the authors create the entire (story, game) structure by splitting up the game into scenes which are connected by (adaptable) transitions. ...
As of the early twentieth century, a significant body of research has been published that shows how effective game-based learning and gamification techniques can be, compared to other methods. These technologies are also very important for the learning and transmission of intangible cultural heritage (ICH) creations, which include, among others, dance, theater, and other skills where body motion has a primary role. However, creating games can be time consuming and usually demands a significant effort. Therefore, this paper focuses on the design and development of a novel framework for the rapid design of body-motion-based customizable game-like applications. This framework consists of two components: (i) an interface that allows the user to design the game and capture the motion data, and (ii) a customizable game for learning and training using off-the-shelf motion-capture sensors like the Microsoft Kinect. The game is automatically configured based on the output of the game design interface. In order to evaluate the proposed system, three pilot-use cases have been selected: (i) the Latin dance Salsa, (ii) the Greek traditional dance Tsamiko, and (iii) the Walloon (Belgian) traditional dance. Moreover, small-scaled experiments concerning the three different use cases were conducted, where both beginners and experts evaluated the game-like application for dance learning. Furthermore, a group of dance experts were asked to design and generate their own game and evaluate their experience. Results showed that the use of such a game-like application could be efficient, as positive feedback was obtained. In summary, participants found that the generated game-like application meets its objectives; it is generally efficient and satisfactory and offers a novel tool for ICH transmission and education. Last but not the least, the dance experts expressed their interest in developing more such games in the future, since they characterized the game design module as easy and intuitive to use.
... StoryTec [12] is a storytelling platform composed of an authoring environment and a runtime engine. The authoring environment is based on a pluggable framework where different editors may be used to create the elements of a story. ...
Information and communication technologies are reshaping the way we live and work. The expectation is that computational thinking will be a pervasive skill in (near-) future professions of ours’ increasingly digitized and responsive economies. Although this idea is spread and well accepted, acquiring such skills often implies attending specialized courses. However, the basic concepts of computational thinking do not need to be a specialized skill learned disassociated from other school curricula. As it is more related with mental tools used in the process of reflecting and solving problems it can be learned by being applied to a large variety of topics. This paper presents piBook, a tool designed to allow the acquisition of key computational thinking skills while working on topics such as history, biology, and mathematics, among other. By reaching diversified audiences piBook fosters the acquisition of those skills by future workers at large. It does so via the production of programmable interactive books, hence piBook, that make possible interactive storytelling using nonlinear narratives, by allowing the creation of textual games, interactive activities, tutorials and alike, therefore offering opportunities for new and engaging pedagogical methods.
... It is known that longer therapeutic sessions lead to greater functional outcomes over the course of treatment, therefore games should keep players interested in playing until they are healthy again. Several games [6], [7], already try to adapt their gameplay to the patient in order to provide a better experience. ...
This work studies the relevance of flow in gameplay adaptability and how it may offer a better gaming experience, since it provides a better enjoyment of an activity. We developed a first-person shooter video game that adapts its in-game difficulty and environmental settings based on a representation of the mental state of the user to keep a balance between the skills of the player and the challenge of the game. The mental state of the player is measured with their physiological signals, namely the heart rate and the beta band of the brainwaves, and we distinguish the mental state of the player with an accuracy of 87%. We also conducted an evaluation using self-perceived flow and in-game scores as metrics to compare the mental state-based adaptability with a performance-based version. Results show that the latter provided a better gaming experience, suggesting that further research is needed to fully understand the relation of flow and gameplay on FPS games.
... The "NeuroVitAALis" Software which has been designed on the basis of the paper and pencil multidomain cognitive group training program "NEUROvitalis" (for a detailed description, see [18] [47]) and was prototypically implemented by the Serious Games group at Technische Universität Darmstadt, using the authoring environment StoryTec (http://www.storytec.de; [48] [49]). The "NeuroVitAALis" Software is a neuropsychological software application for tablet computers targeting the stabilization and amelioration of age-sensitive functions on the basis of brain plasticity. ...
... Eventually, the narrative can flash back to the beginning of the story, releasing the tension. Such nonlinear narrative techniques are widely used in various types of storytelling genres, including literature, theater, movies, graphic novels, as well as hypertexts and other computer-mediated genres such as video games [11,19,24,27]. ...
In this paper, we present story curves, a visualization technique for exploring and communicating nonlinear narratives in movies. A nonlinear narrative is a storytelling device that portrays events of a story out of chronological order, e.g., in reverse order or going back and forth between past and future events. Many acclaimed movies employ unique narrative patterns which in turn have inspired other movies and contributed to the broader analysis of narrative patterns in movies. However, understanding and communicating nonlinear narratives is a difficult task due to complex temporal disruptions in the order of events as well as no explicit records specifying the actual temporal order of the underlying story. Story curves visualize the nonlinear narrative of a movie by showing the order in which events are told in the movie and comparing them to their actual chronological order, resulting in possibly meandering visual patterns in the curve. We also present Story Explorer, an interactive tool that visualizes a story curve together with complementary information such as characters and settings. Story Explorer further provides a script curation interface that allows users to specify the chronological order of events in movies. We used Story Explorer to analyze 10 popular nonlinear movies and describe the spectrum of narrative patterns that we discovered, including some novel patterns not previously described in the literature. Feedback from experts highlights potential use cases in screenplay writing and analysis, education and film production. A controlled user study shows that users with no expertise are able to understand visual patterns of nonlinear narratives using story curves.
... An example of the first case is the StoryTec (Gobel et al., 2008). StoryTec is storytelling platform composed of two major components: an authoring environment and a runtime engine. ...
In the past years, there was a growing interest in teaching computational thinking in elementary and high school institutions. Although the idea is spread and well accepted among academics, it has been slightly put in practice in the classrooms. Currently, when a programming-related activity is offered, with some exceptions, it is usually presented as an extra-curricular (optional) activity. However, it does not necessarily need to be disassociated from the common school curriculum. The present work is based on the idea that programming logic can be used transversally with different subjects, such as history, geography, science, literacy, mathematics , among others. The way the paper's authors envisage to accomplish this goal is to enable programming as a supporting tool for teachers and students, by allowing them to create digital interactive books. The tool, named piBook, has as its main focus the production of interactive storytelling using non-linear narratives. Besides, it is also possible to create textual games (such as role-playing games), interactive activities (such as quizzes), tutorials, chatbots and similar applications.
... Furthermore, various authoring tools have been created for designing scenariobased serious games, such as interactive digital storytelling tools: StoryTech (Göbel et al. 2008), Scenejo (Weiss et al. 2005), e-Adventure (Torrente et al. 2010). Additionally, several DSMLs have been developed for the same purpose, such as WEEV (Marchiori et al. 2011) and GLiSMo (Hirdes et al. 2012). ...
Narrative-based serious games present pedagogical content and interventions through an interactive narrative. To ensure effective learning in such kind of serious games, designers are not only faced with the challenge of creating a compelling narrative, but also with the additional challenge of incorporating suitable pedagogical strategies. Therefore, development teams must consist of a multidisciplinary group including storytellers, technical staff and pedagogical experts to make sure that suitable pedagogical strategies are incorporated into the narrative. In this paper, the authors show how the Domain Specific Modeling Language ATTAC-L, for modeling the narrative of a serious game, allows creating the link between the processes of pedagogical design and narrative modeling by means of an elaborate annotation system. As such, this modeling language enables different experts to concentrate on the aspects related to their field of expertise without losing oversight of the serious game as a whole. More in particular, we will show how the annotation system can be used to document and integrate the use of a well-grounded pedagogical theory, Social Cognitive Theory, for achieving the goals of a serious game, as well as when the serious game is part of a program developed by means of a well-grounded design strategy, Intervention Mapping Protocol.
... B. epigene der Firma takomat) und Autorensystemen (z. B. Story Tec[9]) sowie die Nutzung von kommerziellen Spielen als Grundlage von Serious Games[10] zu nennen. ...
Kommerzielle Computerspiele (z.B. SimCity) sind in der Lage, technische Systeme in attraktiver Weise zu visualisieren und in Folge Systemwissen zu vermitteln. In Form von sogenannten Serious Games wird dieser Ansatz gezielt u.a. zur Ausbildung eingesetzt. Dieser Artikel stellt Grundlagen und Einsatzmöglichkeiten von Serious Games für den Bereich technischer Infrastruktur anhand eines Beispiels aus der Siedlungswasserwirtschaft vor.
... Authoring environments for games (e.g. StoryTec, G-Flash, <e-Adventure> and SeGAE [72,[79][80][81]) differ from game engines: the game designer has to provide content to create a self-contained game. In contrast to an authoring environment a game engine provides just the base for a digital game -game designers have to design the game and programmers have to transform it into a working game using the game engine's services. ...
The term Serious Game includes a wide, heterogeneous field of digital games with varying purposes and objectives and for a multitude of different application areas. All in common is the underlying software. This chapter gives an overview on the technical aspects of serious games including their software architectures and engines. As the general topic is manifold and the technical aspects of serious game software are quite comprehensive, this chapter covers the basic principles of and requirements for serious game software. It depicts selected software architectures and provides examples for game engines including a description of selected components.
... Research in storytelling aims to allow even non-specialists the easy and efficient creation of interactive stories for various application domains [17]. The main aim of this study is to propose a DST conceptual model to cater for interactive and non-interactive forms. ...
... D'autres systèmes permettent l'inclusion de séquences dans un composant. Par exemple, les EIAH AHA! [Bra & Calvi, 1998] ou ScenEdit [Emin et al., 2011], les outils auteurs de jeux sérieux WEEV [Marchiori, 2010] ou Storytec [Göbel et al., 2008], et dans le domaine des jeux vidéo [Kearney & Pivec, 2007 ;Aponte et al., 2011 ;Levieux, 2011]. ...
This thesis in computer science is in the field of Serious Games (SGs) for learning, and focuses on designand authoring tools for adaptation.SGs are Technology Enhanced Learning systems whose design requires collaboration of different types ofexperts among which teachers.To help the initial multi-expertise design of the SGs that mix fun and learning, we propose a conceptualframework named the 6 Facets of the Design of SGs, which helps stakeholders to collaborate at everystage of design. The 6 Facets are enhanced by the design pattern (Dps) library we offer, which builds avocabulary promoting participatory design.To enable teachers to co-design SGs during the use stage, we extend the participatory design approach tometa-design. We propose a model and an authoring tool that help teachers to adapt SGs to their specificteaching contexts.MoPPLiq is a model, both formal and visual, representing the several stages of an SG. It is meant to beexplicit and adaptable by teachers. APPLiq is an authoring tool meant to adapt instances of MoPPLiqmodels, and automatically check and compensate their inconsistencies.Our conceptual tools (6 Facets and DPs) and software tools (MoPPLiq and APPLiq) were tested whiledesigning SGs with public and private partners and with SGs used by teachers.
... The significant use of digital storytelling has been increasing. More authors, content creators and developers from various application domain are using digital storytelling (DST) to create interactive content for their system like training and simulation scenarios, e-Learning and edutainment application [33] and language education [40]. Digital storytelling can be used in many areas but it can be categorized into three main areas; personal narratives, inform/construct and historical event [34].Howevermany of the digital storytelling outside there has been used for personal narratives but only a few in historical content. ...
Mobile platform is being used widely in various areas including in storytelling to disseminate
information to the audience. The content of mobile storytelling ranges from folktale, personal information,
public history and historical event. However, from the studies conducted, framework for historical event
storytelling on mobile platform is hardly found. The existing framework lacks of important historical content
elements. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the framework for historical event storytelling on mobile. The
framework is derived based on website content analysis of historical event, survey and literature review from
the previous studies. There are four components concerning the formation of historical event storytelling in this
study, which are historical event segmentation and CDS model for storytelling, multimedia elements and
mobile user interface design inspired from bee comb architecture. The framework will provide some
contributions for proper historical content segmentation on mobile storytelling.
... D'autres systèmes permettent l'inclusion de séquences dans un composant. Par exemple, les EIAH AHA! [Bra & Calvi, 1998] ou ScenEdit [Emin et al., 2011], les outils auteurs de jeux sérieux WEEV [Marchiori, 2010] ou Storytec [Göbel et al., 2008], et dans le domaine des jeux vidéo [Kearney & Pivec, 2007 ;Aponte et al., 2011 ;Levieux, 2011]. ...
Cette thèse en informatique se situe dans le domaine des jeux sérieux destinés à l’apprentissage et s’intéresse à leur conception et aux outils auteurs d’adaptation.
Les jeux sérieux sont des Environnements Informatiques Pour l’Apprentissage Humain dont la conception nécessite la collaboration d’experts variés parmi lesquels les enseignants.
Pour faciliter la conception multi-expertise initiale des jeux sérieux métissant motivation et apprentissage, nous proposons un cadre conceptuel, les 6 facettes de la conception des jeux sérieux, qui aide les parties prenantes à collaborer à chaque étape de conception. Les 6 facettes sont enrichies par la bibliothèque de patrons de conception que nous proposons, et qui construit un vocabulaire favorisant la conception participative.
Pour permettre la co-conception des jeux sérieux dans l’usage par les enseignants, nous avons prolongé l’approche de la conception participative à celle du meta-design. Nous proposons un modèle et un outil auteur permettant aux enseignants d’adapter les jeux sérieux à leurs contextes spécifiques d’enseignement.
MoPPLiq est un modèle à la fois formel et graphique qui représente la scénarisation des jeux sérieux à étapes, de façon à la rendre compréhensible et manipulable. APPLiq est un outil auteur permettant de manipuler des modèles MoPPLiq, en maintenant leur cohérence grâce à une vérification et une compensation automatique de la planification.
Nos outils conceptuels (6 facettes et patrons de conception) et logiciels (MoPPLiq et APPLiq) ont été mis à l’épreuve lors de travaux de conception de jeux sérieux avec des partenaires publics et privés et avec des jeux sérieux utilisés par des enseignants.
This thesis in computer science is in the field of Serious Games (SGs) for learning, and focuses on design and authoring tools for adaptation.
SGs are Technology Enhanced Learning systems whose design requires collaboration of different types of experts among which teachers.
To help the initial multi-expertise design of the SGs that mix fun and learning, we propose a conceptual framework named the 6 Facets of the Design of SGs, which helps stakeholders to collaborate at every stage of design. The 6 Facets are enhanced by the design pattern (DPs) library we offer, which builds a vocabulary promoting participatory design.
To enable teachers to co-design SGs during the use stage, we extend the participatory design approach to meta-design. We propose a model and an authoring tool that help teachers to adapt SGs to their specific teaching contexts.
MoPPLiq is a model, both formal and visual, representing the several stages of an SG. It is meant to be explicit and adaptable by teachers. APPLiq is an authoring tool meant to adapt instances of MoPPLiq models, and automatically check and compensate their inconsistencies.
Our conceptual tools (6 Facets and DPs) and software tools (MoPPLiq and APPLiq) were tested while designing SGs with public and private partners and with SGs used by teachers.
... Both storytelling and game based learning are currently two very active research fields. There are many works and tools in development for the creation and use of these kind of multimedia learning resources, ( [73], [74]), describing two platforms, StoryTec and Scenejo respectively, for authoring interactive stories. Examples of game-based systems are [75], which presents an interactive game to learn about surgical management algorithms, or [77] presenting a game for training people about fire safety. ...
The use of various types of media and communication technologies in e-learning activities enhances content visualization and user interaction, and increases learner engagement and effectiveness. The evolution of multimedia technologies in recent years has opened new opportunities of integrating multimedia resources to support on-line teaching and learning, although there is still a long way to go. In this paper, we present first an extensive state-of-the-art study of the application of multimedia resources to e-learning activities. Then, based on this study, we discuss on the benefits and drawbacks of multimedia resources and the main types of multimedia resources appropriate for e-learning purposes.
Authoring tools, the software used to create, edit, and develop Interactive Digital Narrative (IDN), are a critical part of both IDN authorship and research. These tools, their features, interface paradigms, visualisations, and user experience (UX) can impact the authoring process and the resulting works, and consequently must inform our wider understanding of IDN context. While IDN research has widely explored data models for authoring tools, feature sets, and demonstrated a variety of developed tools for a range of IDN forms, it has done comparatively very little to evaluate and study the UX of these tools and their impact on authors and their works. In this chapter, we survey the existing work on authoring tools and explore the scale of this problem, the reasons for it, how the community has documented this issue, and how we might begin to tackle it. We conclude that the existing methods for the study of UX are poorly suited for the study of authoring tools, and that as well as making the study of tool UX a priority, we must also develop new methods of evaluation.
Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) face milestones in understanding other's preference and intentions that in turn affects their reciprocity and interaction skills during collaborative partnership. Investigators are advocating the use of digital medium based multiuser platforms to encourage learning of collaborative interaction skills among these children. Though, currently available platforms encourage interaction, these do not consider aspects e.g., anticipating and understanding the partner's preference (or intentions) along with spontaneous reciprocation through turn-taking, important for nurturing effective interaction. In this work, we have developed a multiuser virtual reality based interaction skill learning platform (M-VISP) in which the users can interact with each other through turn-taking using the digital platform. Successful execution of the task (quantified in terms of performance) need them to understand each other's preference before reciprocating. A usability study was designed in which individuals with ASD (n = 18) and typically development (TD) (n = 18) volunteered. Results indicated that the multiuser interaction facility offered by M-VISP could quantify one's ability to understand the preference of a partner in terms of their performance in a task and the spontaneity with which one reciprocated. Additionally, we observed an improving trend in the ability to understand a partner's preference along with exhibiting spontaneity in reciprocation among individuals with ASD.
The technology supporting Interactive Digital Narrative (IDN) is of particular significance to cultural heritage research. IDN technology provides a means of engagement in cultural heritage sites, a medium for culturally significant stories, and culturally significant story-centric games. While previous work in this space has numerous examples of user experience (UX) evaluations of the interactive narrative works themselves, there is significantly less in terms of evaluation of technology for authoring IDN, creating a UX research space in this area that is focused on the audience and not authors. We propose to balance this focus by considering the UX of authoring tools more closely. In this work, we undertake a review of the state of the art of authoring tools for IDN, such as story-centric games, and report on a rigorous UX evaluation of representative technologies (n = 21). We also address the challenges of UX research for these tools through an original evaluation methodology where authors complete a story composed of representative story features. Our study leads us to conclude seven UX principles for IDN authoring tools that explore both how authors use tools to create story-focused games and how the interface for these tools impacts the creative process.
Purpose: The aim of this research is to reveal the experiences of pre-service teachers about the use of non-linear digital storytelling as a teaching method.Design/Methodology/Approach: Case study, one of the qualitative research methods, was used in this research. 11 pre-service teachers from the Department of Computer Education and Instructional Technology of a state university in the fall semester of the 2018-2019 academic year constitute the working group of the research. Pre-service teachers created non-linear digital stories in Designing and Using Material in Education Course for the seven weeks. Data collection tools are semi-structured interview forms developed by researchers and student reflections. The data were analyzed by content analysis method. Consensus among coders was calculated.Findings: When the research data were analyzed, two themes, four categories and twenty-five codes emerged. In addition, frequencies expressing the number of students containing each code were determined. There are two categories in positive sides theme: Contributions and purposes. Under negative sides theme, there are also two categories as challenging steps and problems.Highlights: The results of the research include the results of the pre-service teachers who stated that they learned new programs with this application, had difficulty in making videos, experienced technical problems but wanted to use in their professional life. Based on the results of the research, suggestions were made to practitioners and researchers.
This paper presents and evaluates a method for automatically generating a narrative that includes initial input from the listener, without forcing him/her to become an actual character in the story. More importantly, the story can be modified by the listener during the course of the story being narrated. This latter feature works without pre-defining alternative paths, thereby permitting the changes to take place at any time throughout the course of the story. This system, called the Campfire Storytelling System, employs a contextual approach to narrative generation called the Cooperating Context Method (CCM). Campfire STS was assessed for its functionality and its user acceptance. Thirty-eight human test subjects evaluated stories generated by Campfire STS. They responded to a survey stating their opinions about the generated stories, their entertainment value for adults, their creativity, and other similar issues. Furthermore, 20 of these subjects who self-reported non-trivial experience with children were additionally asked to evaluate the generated stories with respect to how much children would enjoy them. The results of these evaluations suggest that Campfire STS is able to create interesting and novel stories, as well as change them seamlessly in mid-stream while still maintaining interesting and entertaining stories.
Immersive, stereoscopic visualization enables scientists to better analyze structural and physical phenomena compared to traditional display mediums. Unfortunately, current head-mounted displays (HMDs) with the high rendering quality necessary for these complex datasets are prohibitively expensive, especially in educational settings where their high cost makes it impractical to buy several devices. To address this problem, we develop two tools: (1) An authoring tool allows domain scientists to generate a set of connected, 360° video paths for traversing between dimensional keyframes in the dataset. (2) A corresponding navigational interface is a video selection and playback tool that can be paired with a low-cost HMD to enable an interactive, non-linear, storytelling experience. We demonstrate the authoring tool's utility by conducting several case studies and assess the navigational interface with a usability study. Results show the potential of our approach in effectively expanding the accessibility of high-quality, immersive visualization to a wider audience using affordable HMDs.
This paper describes the results of a R&D project focused on the creation of a flexible and easy-to-use platform for creating advanced multimedia applications, with strong focus on education and leisure contexts. Most of the similar existing platforms lack of enough flexibility to create different kind of content, or they require a strong technical background for authoring applications. In this project, a balance between flexibility and easiness has been fulfilled. Several use cases, whose authors have different levels of technical background, have been defined to validate it.
In this paper, the multiplayer serious game Word Domination is presented. The key aspects of this project are to create one fixed game scenario with strong emphasis on motivational aspects and to combine this with a variable learning content. Therefore, a web based authoring tool has been created that allows for the integration of arbitrary quizzes into the game. This frees teachers from hassling with game design details. At the same time, it offers players the same level of engaging gameplay throughout different learning scenarios by making use of the popularity of 3D shooter games. Apart from the beneficial aspects of in game learning, the game also offers rankings and statistics, which might serve as a motivational aspect on the one hand, and as an evaluation tool for instructors on the other hand. In addition to a description of game mechanisms and the technical background of the game, this paper will present suggestions for application scenarios and further development possibilities. Some player impressions and reactions were gathered in a study at the University of Mannheim and at the Darmstadt GameDays 2013 exhibition, during which the game was played by a broad audience.
In the Content-Based Image Retrieval (CBIR) system, an effectiveness of the visual descriptors, such as color, texture and shape, determines a good retrieval performance. Recently, more than two types of visual descriptors are combined to improve the performance of CBIR. The combination method used to combine different types of visual descriptors also plays an important role to obtain a good performance. However, we are aware that researchers have not paid sufficient attention to the combination methods, so in this paper, we focused on combination of schemes of three types of visual features to obtain higher improvement of the retrieval performance. Firstly, several visual descriptors that belong to three types of visual features (color, texture and shaper) are analyzed individually to select a better descriptor from each category. Second, the several combination methods are analyzed to determine a best combination method. The performance of the proposed scheme is compared with some CBIR systems in which more than two different types of descriptors are combined.
This paper describes work in progress regarding an effort to create a serious game with the sole purpose of cultural competency training. The serious game includes a research tool (a scenario editor) which will have the ability to build a conversation and interpret and respond to questions or answers from the game player. Primarily, these responses will be based on pre-defined cultural characteristics of the virtual character (avatar), and on different moods that the avatar may express depending on the situation (e.g., happy, sad, angry, amongst others).
Integrating user-generated content into digital games helps to increase re-usability and to decrease development effort. In terms of learning games, the content creation can be extended to the learning parts of the game as well, e.g., allowing teachers to create custom games for their students. In this work, we propose a method of how to create learning games with arbitrary user-generated learning content. This includes not only different topics of learning content, but also different types of knowledge acquisition. To do this we combine a static game scenario with lightweight HTML5-based mini games. Learning content can be conveniently added through a web-based authoring tool that does not require any programming or game design knowledge. In addition to that, we created a game prototype based on the Unity3D engine that uses a tower defence game setting to integrate the learning content. These mini games are retrieved from the backend service at runtime. The implemented solution already allows for the integration of arbitrary content and can easily extended without altering the game client.
This paper presents an authoring tool focused on the design of interactive narratives, named ISB Designer. Based on techniques used by film and animation producers, the tool does not rule out paradigms they are used to. One of its main advantages is to allow the design of audiovisual content together with its points of adaptation and intervention, thus helping in the detection and correction of narrative inconsistencies. Another ISB Designer differential is the possibility of designing applications for presentations on multiple screens. Unlike other tools, the ISB Designer focuses on the design and prototyping phase of applications, as a means of producing higher quality interactive narratives, for then automatically generate the final application, in a post-project stage.
After a study, we established that one of the obstacles of the adoption of Serious Games (SGs) by teachers was that they cannot shape their educational scenarios to their specific teaching context. The work we present in this paper tackles the general problem of designing tools to help them customize the educational scenarios of SGs. Our approach is to provide a model suited to describe SGs that are composed of several stages, and to provide its implementation in an authoring tool in order to help the teachers to visualize, modify and check the consistency of the scenarios. The evaluation of our model shows that it is capable of describing most of the SGs we targeted, and the first user tests of our authoring tool prototype are also promising.
A narrative structure is essential for a story generator to create a story plot. In digital storytelling system, a narrative structure can be generally designed as a tree or a graph, and the story generator in the digital storytelling system creates continuous story plots based on the narrative structure. When a narrative structure is designed with a tree or a graph, it is hard for the story generator to create various kinds of story-plots due to the inflexible nature of a tree or graph structure. It may result in degrading the quality of story-plots to provide similar story-plot to various kind of user. In this paper, we proposed an approach to create a story-plot based on association analysis of data mining to overcome the disadvantage. In detail, we defined a narrative structure which consists of narrative patterns, and then implemented a story generator which creates a story-plot using the proposed narrative structure. As a result, we confirmed that implemented story generator was able to create a story-plot according to understanding level of user in case study.
Stroke is a leading cause of serious long-term disability in adults (Go et al, 2013). The impact of stroke induced impairments goes beyond the mere loss of motor abilities. The psychosocial implications caused by changes in per-formance of the activities of daily living have to be considered in modern reha-bilitation processes since they do influence the potential outcome. From the perspective of traditional rehabilitation it is difficult to directly address these social factors. Here we propose to capitalize on a rising trend in rehabilitation to deploy virtual reality environments in order to overcome this limitation. By cre-ating a multiplayer game that enhances performance of the patient through an adaptive mapping methodology, we compensate for motor impairments and al-low the patient to interact with other participants on an equal level. We propose that this approach influences psychosocial dynamics as it changes the partici-pant's mutual perception. We conducted a psychosocial study to gain insight into the patients' social environment and tested the system in two at home ex-periments. The results suggest that our system is able to equalize a healthy and disabled player and benefits the social interaction.
In this paper we present a serious game on the topic of architecture. The game was developed in association with an architect and is intended to be used in classrooms to deliver architectural knowledge to young students. It focuses on a modular story pattern to allow an easy integration of further game and learning content. With its modern 3D graphical interface it is well suited for illustrating various aspects of architecture.
Serious games present a promising opportunity for learning, but the genre still lacks methodologies and tools for efficient and low-cost production, particularly for teacher and domain experts. This article gives an authoring framework that aims to provide structured support, from content design to final implementation. In particular, we have abstracted a conceptual model—the SandBox Serious Game - which relies on a generalization of task-based learning theory. The model invites players to perform cognitive tasks contextually while exploring information-rich virtual environments. We consider it particularly suited for cultural heritage entertainment applications. The model defines games that are set in realistic virtual worlds enriched with embedded educational tasks, which we have implemented as minigames. This approach simplifies the authoring work, which can easily be supported by visual authoring tools for ontology-based urban 3D modeling and implementation tasks, thus allowing an approach similar to the mind-maps concept. We propose a top-down methodology for content preparation, starting from a city-level analysis down to the single points of interest and associated tasks, which are instances of simple predefined minigame/quiz typologies. We provide examples and discuss criteria for selecting task typologies according to the authors' cognitive targets. Finally, we discuss the results of a user test, which took place in a lab, aimed at verifying the acquisition of cultural heritage knowledge in a pleasant and engaging way. Games appear particularly suited for supporting the study of images, especially of iconography. Compared to reading text, a game forces the player to focus more strongly on problems, which favors knowledge acquisition and retention. Learning complex concepts requires an investigative attitude, which can be spurred by well-designed games. Good design involves usability, graphic appeal, appropriate content, and the presence of connections which a player must discover in the content. Players should be asked to pay attention to and reason about their whole game activity - including the relationships between the game content, the brief introduction, and concluding texts. More comprehensive tests are needed to better investigate the educational effectiveness—however, the first results are promising, especially in terms of user motivation and creation of new opportunities for learning about CH.
Interactivity is a key feature of new multimedia content and services. However, the storytelling of these non linear forms
of content requires today not only artistic skills but also expertise in specific technical tools, even including software
programming. Whatever the form, be in theatre, movie, cartoon, video-games, training and simulation, the process for creating
interactive content poses new challenges for authors and production teams. Indeed, this process calls for the combined knowledge
of different domains such as cinema, 2D or 3D modelling, animation, cognitive and computer sciences.
The consideration of the narrative question within Virtual Environments (VEs) is a compromise regarding to the conflict between pre-authored narrative structures and user freedom both in terms of interaction and physical movement. By presenting the results of a recent investigation on the narrative structures and mechanisms of Role Playing Games (RPGs), this paper aims at assessing the potential of non-conventional narrative forms for computer implementation and addresses the potential benefits of such consideration on the research currently undertaken by the AI community in terms of storytelling and interactive storytelling.
The intrinsic motivation to play, and therefore to learn, that might be provided by digital educational games teases researchers
and developers. However, existing educational games often fail in their attempt to compete with commercial games and to provide
successful learning. Often some learning is added to digital games or some gameplay is added to educational applications.
Successful educational games, however, require merging professional game design with sound pedagogical strategies, creating
a new hybrid format. Moreover, a methodology is required that allows continuously balancing gaming and learning challenges
and the learner’s abilities and knowledge in order to retain an immersive gaming experience. In this article we introduce
approaches to game design and didactic design, as well as a framework for adaptive interventions in educational games.
Within this chapter, the authors - all members of the Digital Storytelling group at ZGDV Darmstadt e.V. - provide an overview of the potential of storytelling-based edutainment applications and approaches for narrative learning applications. This covers not only online applications, but also off-line edutainment components, as well as hybrid scenarios combining both types. The chapter is structured into five parts. At the beginning, a global scenario of edutainment applications for museums is introduced and key issues concerning the establishment of edutainment applications and the level of interactivity for online applications are highlighted. These open and relevant issues are discussed within a technology-oriented, state-of-the art analysis concentrating on the authoring process, storytelling aspects, dramaturgy and learning issues. Based on this brief STAR analysis, storytelling methods and concepts, as well as a technical platform for the establishment of storytelling-based edutainment applications, are described. The strengths and weaknesses of these approaches are discussed within the context of the edutainment projects, art-E-fact and DinoHunter Senckenberg. Finally, the major results are summarized in a short conclusion and further research and application-driven trends (context: museums) are pointed out.
For both people and machines, each in their own way, there is a serious problem in common of making sense out of what they hear, see, or are told about the world. The conceptual apparatus necessary to perform even a partial feat of understanding is formidable and fascinating. Our analysis of this apparatus is what this book is about. Roger C. Schank and Robert P. Abelson from the Introduction (http://www.psypress.com/scripts-plans-goals-and-understanding-9780898591385)
As a game designer or new media storyteller, you know that the story is everything. However, figuring out how to tell it interactively-and in a way that keeps your audience coming back for more-can be challenging. Here to help you out (and to open your mind to ever more creative ways of producing those stories) is the man who created the cult publication The Art of Computer Game Design and who has devoted much of his career to that very topic: Chris Crawford. To highlight the path for future gains in the quest for a truly interactive story, Chris provides a solid sampling of what doesn't work, contrasting unsuccessful methodologies with those that hold promise for the future. Throughout you'll find examples of contemporary games that rely on different technologies-and learn the storytelling lessons to be garnered from each of the past methodologies. Within the context of interactive storytelling, Chris explores ways of providing conflict and challenge, the difference between low- and high-interactivity designs, the necessity to move beyond purely visual thinking (so that the player is engaged on multiple levels), and more.
Tools, such as Macromedia Director and Flash which are commonly used in the development of interactive stories, are based
upon linear means of representation i.e. timelines, reflecting their evolution from animation packages. In the development
of INSCAPE, however, which is a tool dedicated to the creation of interactive stories, we have been able to readdress the
notion of visual scenario representation for interactive stories through the development of a ‘Story Editor‘ component which
acts as a means of organising story assets and presenting story structures as coherent patterns of information. This paper
describes the process which has resulted in the development of a Story Editor component which will be released in INSCAPE’s
Beta application at the end of 2007. It outlines the theoretical grounding of this work as well as providing a description
of the design approach and its implications for the further development of interactive storytelling authoring tools.
This paper discusses timing and pacing issues in Interactive Storytelling applications at the conceptual level. Herein, aspects
of both, the authoring process and the experiencing of interactive stories are considered. Undoubtedly, interactive stories
and Interactive Storytelling applications provide a huge potential as basis for any kind of dialogue based, game based, or
‘serious’ edutainment application. On the other hand – and in contrast to linear, pre-scripted and less interactive applications,
such as films, books or life performances – the challenge of developing applications based on interactive stories lies in
the interactivity and possible ‘free scenes’. By free scenes we refer to interactive elements such as chatting with a virtual
character, ‘playing’ with an interactive installation in a museum, or performing on-site rallies (‘un-guided’ tours), enabling
users to interactively explore the content space and acquire knowledge in their individual style and pace. Hereby, these free
scenes might disturb the fluent continuation of the underlying story plot, and harmfully influence the dramaturgy and suspense
of the story model. Chapter 1 further introduces and motivates the topic, while Chapter 2 provides a comprehensive overview
of related research work along with some examples from the edutainment domain. Chapter 3 and 4 introduce a new approach conceptualized
by the authors of this paper in the context of the EU funded project INSCAPE. Finally the main aspects are summarized and
an outlook indicates open issues to be addressed in future research.
Obra sobre la historia, los fundamentos y las estrategias para contar historias interactivas a partir de los diferentes estilos de pensamiento que poseen las personas.
this paper we discuss our research and development towards creating an architecture, and a story design using this architecture, that integrates a broad and shallow approach to natural language processing, a novel character authoring language and a novel drama manager, in order to build an interactive drama about human relationships. Faade: an experiment in interactive drama In Faade, you, the player, using your own name and gender, play the character of a longtime friend of Grace and Trip, an attractive and materially successful couple in their early thirties. During an evening gettogether at their apartment that quickly turns ugly, you become entangled in the high-conflict dissolution of Grace and Trips marriage. No one is safe as the accusations fly, sides are taken and irreversible decisions are forced to be made. By the end of this intense oneact play you will have changed the course of Grace and Trips lives motivating you to replay the drama to find out how your interaction could make things turn out differently the next time. Figure 1. Real-time rendered characters Grace and Trip in Faade, with player-typed text and hand cursor. Faade is an attempt to create a real-time 3D animated experience akin to being on stage with two live actors who are motivated to make a dramatic situation happen. Instead of providing the player with 40 to 60 hours of episodic action and exploration in a huge world, we want to design an experience that provides the player with 20 minutes of emotionally intense, unified, dramatic action. The player's actions should have a significant influence on what events occur, which are left out, and how the drama ends. The experience should be varied enough that it supports replayability; only af...
U-CREATE: Authoring Tool for the Creation of Interactive Storytelling-based Edutainment Applications
- Osswald
Osswald, " U-CREATE: Authoring Tool for the Creation of Interactive Storytelling-based Edutainment Applications ", in EVA 2007 Florence Proceedings, Vito Cappellini, James Hemsley (Eds.) Bologna: Pitagora Editrice Bologna, 2007, pp. 53-58.
INSCAPE: An Authoring Platform for Interactive Storytelling " in Virtual Storytelling Using Virtual Reality Technologies for Storytelling (ICVS
- O Balet
O. Balet, " INSCAPE: An Authoring Platform for Interactive Storytelling " in Virtual Storytelling. Using Virtual Reality Technologies for Storytelling (ICVS 2007 Proceedings), Marc Cavazza, Stéphane Donikian (Eds.) Berlin: Springer-Verlag, 2007, pp. 176–177.
Interactive Storytelling