Mauricio Lumbreras’s research while affiliated with University of Santiago, Chile and other places

. We present a methodology to specify interactive narrative in virtual worlds. HyperStories extend the idea of "branching games" and the classic "choose your own adventure" novels. The main difference arises from the possibility of temporal opportunity and autonomous behavior of entities in the virtual navigational environment and the possibility of object migration between nodes. The aim of this paper is to present a formal step to design and specify this type of software and to describe the similarities and differences between HyperStories, MUDs, and hypermedia applications. According to our research experience HyperStories are an interesting metaphor to deliver educational software and knowledge construction. We also discuss the stages in HyperStory modeling and further development.

We introduce a conceptual model for building interactive hypermedia literary stories. Hyperstories extend and plasticize the idea of branching games and the classic choose your own adventure

We present a conceptual model for building hyperstories. Hyperstories are the hypermedia version of literary stories. The model combines static and dynamic aspects of a computer environment such as a nested context, allowing navigation through a virtual world. The flexibility of the model supports things such as the existence of objects to be acted on by the learner, autonomous objects or characters who represent entities that live independently from users, the reusability of entities and environments to avoid repetitive work, and a clear separation between content representation and interface management .We introduce a methodology for using hyperstories to enhance learning and thinking in a constructivist way. We discuss different aspects involved in the implementation of hyperstories. Finally, we analyze some further trends and issues in this growing line of research.

During the last years we have started to see diverse views in relation to the use of Virtual Reality to enhance learning and cognition. Authors disagree in their opinions about the real value of VR interfaces. VR has rapidly emerged as a very promising technology that will probably match the innovation of technologies such as multimedia/hypermedia. This study stems from our research work and intends to discuss about the VR technology available today and the impact it may have on education. We analyze the major trends in the use of Virtual Reality for learning purposes. We intend to match what the theory says about the possible effects of virtual reality with the actual preliminary results communicated in the specialized literature. In addition, as a result of the trend analysis we shed some light about the major issues highlighted in some experiences of using VR to assist learning and cognition.

Blind children tend to represent spatial environments with cognitive difficulty. The absence of visual stimuli processing impedes the construction of rich representations of the surrounding space. This can be decreased if they are exposed to interactive experiences with acoustic stimuli delivered through spatialized sound software complemented with cognitive tasks tailored to accomplish richer representations. A few studies have approached this issue by using interactive applications that integrate virtual reality and cognitive tasks to enhance spatial orientation skills. The aim of this research has been to design interactive software based on spatialized sound to help blind learners to construct cognitive spatial structures.

Blind children tend to represent spatial environments with cognitive difficulty. The absence of visual stimuli processing impedes the construction of rich representations of the surrounding space. This can be decreased if they are exposed to interactive experiences with acoustic stimuli delivered through spatialized sound software complemented with cognitive tasks tailored to accomplish richer representations. A few studies have approached this issue by using interactive applications that integrate virtual reality and cognitive tasks to enhance spatial orientation skills. The aim of this research has been to design interactive software based on spatialized sound to help blind learners to construct cognitive spatial structures.

La mayoría de los software interactivos se utilizan para propósitos de aprendizaje y entretenimiento. Este tipo de software no es muy común entre niños ciegos, ya que la mayor parte de los juegos para computador y de los juguetes electrónicos carecen de interfaces apropiadas que les permitan ser utilizados sin usar pistas visuales. Este estudio presenta la idea de ambientes interactivos para niños ciegos en forma de historias hipermediales, hiperhistorias, que se desarrollan en un mundo virtual acústico 3D. Hemos conceptualizado un modelo para diseñar hiperhistorias. Para ilustrar este diseño, implementamos AudioDoom, una aplicación que permite probar tareas cognitivas con niños ciegos, presentando experiencias en primera persona a través de la exploración de entornos virtuales interactivos utilizando exclusivamente representaciones auditivas 3D del espacio. La interrogante central de esta investigación y que permea el estudio, explora el problema de cómo actividades de entretenimiento basado en audio y experiencias navegables con sonido espacial a través del computador en conjunto con tareas concretas de representación cognitiva, pueden ayudar a que los niños ciegos construyan estructuras espaciales cognitivas.

Interactive software is actively used for learning, cognition, and entertainment purposes. Educational entertainment software is not very popular among blind children because most computer games and electronic toys have interfaces that are only accessible through visual cues. This work applies the concept of interactive hyperstories to blind children. Hyperstories are implemented in a 3D acoustic virtual world. In past studies we have conceptualized a model to design hyperstories. This study illustrates the feasibility of the model. It also provides an introduction to researchers to the field of entertainment software for blind children. As a result, we have designed and field tested AudioDoom, a virtual environment interacted through 3D Audio by blind children. AudioDoom is also a software that enables testing nontrivial interfaces and cognitive tasks with blind children. We explored the construction of cognitive spatial structures in the minds of blind children through audio-based entertainment and spatial sound navigable experiences. Children playing AudioDoom were exposed to first person experiences by exploring highly interactive virtual worlds through the use of 3D aural representations of the space. This experience was structured in several cognitive tasks where they had to build concrete models of their spatial representations constructed through the interaction with AudioDoom by using Legotrade mark blocks. We analyze our preliminary results after testing AudioDoom with Chilean children from a school for blind children. We discuss issues such as interactivity in software without visual cues, the representation of spatial sound navigable experiences, and entertainment software such as computer games for blind children. We also evaluate the feasibility to construct virtual environments through the design of dynamic learning materials with audio cues.

Interactive software is currently used for learning andentertainment purposes. This type of software is not very commonamong blind children because most computer games and electronictoys do not have appropriate interfaces to be accessible withoutvisual cues.This study introduces the idea of interactive hyperstoriescarried out in a 3D acoustic virtual world for blind children. Wehave conceptualized a model to design hyperstories. ThroughAudioDoom we have an application that enables testing cognitivetasks with blind children. The main research question underlyingthis work explores how audio- based entertainment and spatial soundnavigable experiences can create cognitive spatial structures inthe minds of blind children.AudioDoom presents first person experiences through explorationof interactive virtual worlds by using only 3D auralrepresentations of the space.

Interactive stories are commonly used for learning and entertaining purposes enhancing the development of several perceptual and cognitive skills. These experiences are not very common among blind children because most computer games and electronics toys do not have appropriate interfaces to be accessible by them. This study introduces the idea of interactive Hyperstories performed in a 3D acoustic virtual world. The hyperstory model enables us to build an application to help blind children to enrich their early world experiences through exploration of interactive virtual worlds by using 3D aural representations of the space. We have produced AudioDoom, interactive model-based software for blind children. The prototype was qualitative and quantitatively field-tested with several blind children in a Chilean school setting. Our preliminary results indicate that when acoustic-based entertainment applications are careful applied with an appropriate methodology can stimulate diminished cognitive skills. We also found that spatial sound experiences can create spatial navigable structures in the mind of blind children. Methodology and usability evaluation procedures and results appeared to be critical to the efectiveness of interactive Hyperstories performed in a 3D acoustic virtual world.