Showing papers presented at "International Conference on Interactive Digital Storytelling in 2013"

Generating Different Story Tellings from Semantic Representations of Narrative

Abstract: In order to tell stories in different voices for different audiences, interactive story systems require: (1) a semantic representation of story structure, and (2) the ability to automatically generate story and dialogue from this semantic representation using some form of Natural Language Generation (nlg). However, there has been limited research on methods for linking story structures to narrative descriptions of scenes and story events. In this paper we present an automatic method for converting from Scheherazade's story intention graph, a semantic representation, to the input required by the personage nlg engine. Using 36 Aesop Fables distributed in DramaBank, a collection of story encodings, we train translation rules on one story and then test these rules by generating text for the remaining 35. The results are measured in terms of the string similarity metrics Levenshtein Distance and BLEU score. The results show that we can generate the 35 stories with correct content: the test set stories on average are close to the output of the Scheherazade realizer, which was customized to this semantic representation. We provide some examples of story variations generated by personage. In future work, we will experiment with measuring the quality of the same stories generated in different voices, and with techniques for making storytelling interactive.

Metrics for Character Believability in Interactive Narrative

Abstract: The concept of character believability is often used in interactive narrative research hypothesis. In this paper we define believability metrics using perceived believability dimensions and discuss how they can be accessed. The proposed dimensions are: behavior coherence, change with experience, awareness, behavior understandability, personality, visual impact, predictability, social and emotional expressiveness.

On Games and Links: Extending the Vocabulary of Agency and Immersion in Interactive Narratives

Abstract: The opposition between narrative agency–the ability for readers and players to make meaningful choices–and narrative immersion has been an ongoing conflict in the world of interactive storytelling. Some forms, such as games, have been argued to be more successful at balancing the tension between interactivity and immersion than forms like hypertext fiction [16]. Using these two forms as illustration, this paper will argue for the need for more nuanced understandings of "agency" and "immersion" by introducing definitions of diegetic and extra-diegetic agency alongside definitions of narrative and mechanical immersion. Extending the vocabulary of agency and immersion highlights some key differences in how games and hypertexts have been understood.

Narrative Intelligibility and Closure in Interactive Systems

Abstract: In this article we define various aspects, or parameters, of interactive narrative systems and present them as a framework that can help authors, creators and designers to conceive, analyze, or prioritize the narrative goals of a given system. We start by defining the Author-Audience distance (AAD), which in turn can be seen as a function of Narrative Intelligibility. AAD can also be influenced by the intended or unintended level of abstractedness or didascalicity (i.e. figurativeness) of a given narrative. We define narrative intelligibility in complementarity with the related notion of Narrative Closure. We also make a distinction between the goals of the system and the goals of the narrative that it mediates, and consider the proposed parameters at two interrelated levels of analysis: the system level and the embedded narrative level, as the normative values and goals of these two levels should not be taken for granted.

Performative Authoring: Nurturing Storytelling in Children through Imaginative Enactment

Abstract: This paper presents an empirical study that provides support for the use of enactment in storytelling systems. The overall goal of our research is to facilitate the authoring of stories by children, aged 8 to 10 years. Our findings show that story enactment results in positive effects on the child's storytelling, but only through the mediation of imagination during enactment. Only imaginative enactments support better storytelling. Based on our results, we make a case for enactment as an effective motivator, interface and cognitive tool for children going through a period of development called the Fourth-grade Slump, and we propose the concept of performative authoring for the design of interactive storytelling systems for children.

Theoretical Considerations towards Authoring Emergent Narrative

Abstract: Unlike linear storytelling, an Emergent Narrative only truly exists at run-time and can only be visualized retrospectively. The author is engaged in creating a hypothetical narrative space on the basis of individual character behaviors, story interventions and likely occurrences. While an Emergent Narrative approach allows for a flexible and adaptable run-time rendering of a scenario, it also causes considerable strains on the authoring process. If such a concept is to prove both tangible and produce qualitative outputs, creative writers need to be able to relate to it as a potential mode of expression. In this discussion article, we aim to explore theoretical considerations towards authoring Emergent Narrative, provide a discussion on the context surrounding the authorial process and the structure it should follow. Finally, we introduce the concept of Intelligent Narrative Feedback as a necessary core element for an efficient authoring process for EN experiences.

Production and Delivery of Interactive Narratives Based on Video Snippets

Abstract: We propose digital audio/video streaming as highly expressive representation form for interactive storytelling on the web, in spite of wide-spread assumptions that pre-authored videos may reduce flexibility. To address the latter, we present our new end-user client for dynamic ad-hoc playback of video or audio snippets managed by a multi-agent conversational platform, as well as a way to include video (or pre-rendered animation) production in an iterative prototyping cycle tailored for that system.

Modeling Foreshadowing in Narrative Comprehension for Sentimental Readers

Abstract: Foreshadowing is a narrative technique of manipulating the reader's inferences about the story progression. This paper reviews research on foreshadowing and reader comprehension in narratology and cognitive science. We use the term sentimental reader to refer to sophisticated readers who make active efforts in their reading experiences, and then we list various examples of foreshadowing found in novels, films, and games, discussing their impact on the sentimental reader's reasoning process. We further present an example of interactive fiction associated with the use of foreshadowing and conclude with future work.

Mapping the Evolving Space of Interactive Digital Narrative - From Artifacts to Categorizations

Abstract: Categorizing Interactive Digital Narrative (IDN) works is challenging because artistic and technological approaches constantly evolve. At the same time, a range of theoretical approaches from neo-Aristotelian perspectives to applications of post-classical narratology have applied many markedly different analytical perspectives, making an overall comparison difficult. This position paper expresses the need for novel, dynamic and multidimensional mappings and explores an early selection of categorizations for IDN works across different approaches.

Silent Hill 2 and the Curious Case of Invisible Agency

Abstract: This paper outlines the concept of agency in interactive narratives and focuses on the video game Silent Hill 2 as a successful example that defies the very concept. In what ways agency was deemed as an essential part in interactive narratives and narrative video games are summarized. Then the method of agency in Silent Hill 2 is proposed as an alternative to our familiar understanding of the concept agency and is entitled as invisible agency.

Acting, Playing, or Talking about the Story: An Annotation Scheme for Communication during Interactive Digital Storytelling

Abstract: In this paper we investigate the communication of children playing with an interactive digital storytelling system. What users say during their interaction with a digital storytelling system can tell us much about how they relate to the characters and how engrossed they are in the storytelling activity. We propose a communication annotation scheme that combines ideas about framing from research on pretend play and role-playing games, and use it to analyse children's utterances gathered in a small-scale user experiment. Our results show that certain kinds of communication are prevalent among the children's interactions. We conclude that this can be attributed to the design of our system, and we envisage future use of the annotation scheme to inform the design of other interactive storytelling systems.

Building Narrative Connections among Media Objects in Cultural Heritage Repositories

Abstract: In this paper, we propose a semantic framework for narrative-based access to digital media repositories in the field of cultural heritage. Narrative relations are employed as paths the user can follow to explore a media repository, thus providing a powerful conceptual tool for the description and navigation of resources.

Conceptualizing Productive Interactivity in Emergent Narratives

Abstract: Contemporary projects examining how to design for emergence in virtual environments have suggested very applicable and plausible design-oriented material. However, authors of such works cannot avoid influencing the experience by providing pre-written narrative material which can become trivial for the user after just a few times. This paper suggests an alternative viewpoint on the issue, by involving the user in the authoring process during the experience, such that it affects other users' story constructions and experiences, in an attempt to solve this potential authoring issue. The study will focus on creating a practical concept, based theoretically on Ryan's idea of productive interactivity and Jenkins' description of emergent storytelling, in order to discuss the shortcomings and potential of this conceptual design.

Towards Automatic Story Clustering for Interactive Narrative Authoring

Abstract: Interactive storytelling systems are capable of producing many variants of stories. A major challenge in designing storytelling systems is the evaluation of the resulting narrative. Ideally every variant of the resulting story should be seen and evaluated, but due to combinatorial explosion of the story space, this is unfeasible in all but the smallest domains. However, the system designer still needs to have control over the generated stories and his input cannot be replaced by a computer. In this paper we propose a general methodology for semi-automatic evaluation of narrative systems based on tension curve extraction and clustering of similar stories. Our preliminary results indicate that a straightforward approach works well in simple scenarios, but for complex story spaces further improvements are necessary.

Constructing and Connecting Storylines to Tell Museum Stories

Abstract: Over the past decade a number of systems have been developed that tell museum stories by constructing digital presentations from cultural objects and their metadata. Our novel approach, informed by museum practice, is built around a formalization of stages of museum storytelling that involve: (i) the collection of events, museum objects and their associated stories, (ii) the construction of story sections that organise the content in different ways, and (iii) the assembly of story sections into a story structure. Here we focus in particular on this final stage of building the story structure. Our approach to providing intelligent assistance to story construction involves: (i) separating overlapping or conflicting story sections into separate candidate storylines, (ii) evaluating candidate storylines according the criteria of coverage, richness and coherence, (iii) assembling storylines into linear, layered or multi-route structures and (iv) ordering the story sections according to their setting within the storyline.

Video Game Mise-En-Scene Remediation of Cinematic Codes in Video Games

Abstract: This paper aims to discuss two primary points. Firstly, I argue that due to the complex development of Game Studies as a field and to the constant technological innovation, it is important to elaborate a reflection on the current state of video game aesthetics and its relationship with other audiovisual media. Secondly, the relevance of film-related analytical and theoretical tool is explored through the analysis of video game mise-en-scene and its tools of representation. I want to highlight the similar aesthetic strategies and, at the same time, to underline the shifts occurred in terms of functions. Finally, I describe two relevant aesthetic tendencies in the current video game generation: the scripted staging and the expressive lighting.

Fully-Automatic Interactive Story Design from Film Scripts

Abstract: Game design is an expensive and time-consuming process. In this paper we explore the potential of a fully-automatic game design system that uses the scripts from famous action films to generate interactive, text-based, RPGs. We automatically extracted key information such as dialogues, characters, settings, and events from the movie scripts. For level design, we applied a TF-IDF clustering algorithm to determine which scenes could be grouped together as levels. We test a pilot game based on The Adventures of Indiana Jones, in which the player is presented with a series of choices in the form of abstract responses as she guides Indiana Jones to complete his mission successfully. Evaluation of our scene clustering algorithm indicates a high correlation between automatic and gold-standard clusters, while our preliminary user evaluation shows that our approach is promising.

Suitability of Modelling Context for Use within Emergent Narrative

Abstract: In Emergent Narrative it can be asked that without mandatory author-controlled way-points, how does a story remain emotionally significant to an interactive user? A plausible solution lies in the use of contextual information in order to create emotionally relevant, and therefore emotionally significant, interactions. If context could be defined and modelled accordingly, it could present a novel approach for the creation of interactive user experiences within affect-based systems.

Breaching Interactive Storytelling's Implicit Agreement: A Content Analysis of Facade User Behaviors

Abstract: Using both manual and automatic content analysis we analyzed 100 collected screen plays of 50 users of the IS system Facade, coding the extent to which users stayed "in character". Comparing this measure for first and second exposure to Facade revealed that users stay significantly less in character during second exposure. Further, related to a set of independently collected user experience measures we found staying in character to negatively influence users' affective responses. The results confirm the notion that the more Facade users keep to their assigned role, the easier they become dissatisfied with the system's performance. As a result, users start exploring the system by acting "out of character".

Storytelling and the Use of Social Media in Digital Art Installations

Abstract: In recent times new story formats have appeared along with new media channels that allow more reach and target a broader pool of authors and audiences. This paper investigates the repurposing of a Solari Udine airport split-flap display as a new public channel/medium for storytelling. We explored the potential of this repurposed display through a high fidelity prototype positioned in a high density and flow area at the main entrance to a regional university. The content displayed consisted of stories by published authors as well as passersby. Stories could be sent to the display via Twitter, SMS and Facebook. We observed and reported the reactions of the invited authors as well as of the public. Through the analysis of the data collected with this study, we aim at advancing and supporting the design of interactive storytelling installations in public spaces.

Satire, Propaganda, Play, Storytelling. Notes on Critical Interactive Digital Narratives

Abstract: Paolo Pedercini, better known through his Molleindustria alter-ego, is a game designer specializing in social critique through apparently simple casual video games - uniting digital storytelling, game-based mechanics with the discursive genres of satire and propaganda. This work examines three recent pieces - Oiligarchy, Phone Story and Tax Evaders - to explore how the affordances of interactive digital storytelling overlap with critical and political discourse.

Telling Stories on the Go: Lessons from a Mobile Thematic Storytelling System

Abstract: Although mobile devices make it easier for travellers to share stories both during and after their travels, these postings are often time-based, with minimal narrative structure. This paper describes an observational study of Travel Teller, a storytelling system designed to help tourists share their experiences as stories by providing thematic recommendations for mobile postings. Interestingly, although our design assumed people want to tell stories while travelling, our observations suggest otherwise. Rather than actively telling a story as they travel, participants stated a preference for remaining in the moment, and only later reflecting on and structuring their experience as a story. They viewed recommendations as approximate destinations, taking photos of things they stumbled upon rather than of the recommendation itself, and often put recommendations "on hold" to be resumed later. This suggests tools should support distinct story-gathering and story-telling activities, aim to inspire not prescribe, and flexibly track "pending" recommendations.

Player Perspectives to Unexplained Agency-Related Incoherence

Abstract: Anachrony in game stories causes incoherence, if the player's actions cause a future that differs considerably from the one already presented. Such game story quirk, if not addressed by design, causes an occurrence of unexplained agency-related incoherence (UARI). Current game studies literature views the issue as problematic. To study the significance and meaning of UARI to players, both anachronic and linear UARI-featuring games were developed. A grounded theory on the topic was devised upon 20 player accounts. Three main perspectives to UARI were identified: With anachrony, an acceptive-ludic perspective views the UARI as inevitable and natural. With both anachronic and linear game stories, an acceptive-diegetic perspective views the UARI as part of the story. With both anachronic and linear game stories, a rejective-logical perspective views the UARI as an unacceptable error in the game's causality.

Breaking Points — A Continuously Developing Interactive Digital Narrative

Abstract: Breaking Points is an interactive digital narrative (IDN) that puts the user in the position of a young woman who feels trapped in a daily routine she would like to escape from. The narrative design connects more important decisions with seemingly trivial ones and presents the user with immediate and delayed consequence in the form of narrative feedback, for a complex and more life-like experience. By aligning the experience of a single walkthrough with a day in the life of the heroine, the project invites replay. The project is also a study of authorial challenges and opportunities offered by different authoring modes, namely the switch from coding from scratch to the ASAPS environment. As the project is prepared for release on touch-based tablets, the paper focuses on how changes in the underlying technology have afforded continuous reshaping of the narrative.

The Elements of a Narrative Environment

Abstract: Reactions reflecting the psychology behind a user's desire to play games have been addressed in a number of studies. However, this paper focuses on a more inclusive understanding of how game elements, such as controls and objects, play their part in interactive storytelling and games. Based on findings from user studies and game theory, an open game world was constructed, in order to serve as a test environment. A survey was then developed in order to identify reactions and patterns in user responses to frequently used game elements. This study thus attempts to provide an insight into general reactions to game elements in open game worlds, and it aims at laying the foundations for defining a process which can be applied to user relations with game elements. Furthermore, it has potential uses for improved game and interactive storytelling application design.

The Role of Gender and Age on User Preferences in Narrative Experiences

Abstract: Storytelling is interactivea-astorytellers seldom recite the same content, instead, they adapt the narrative to their audience. Storytellers both introduce new topics from time to time, and elaborate on the topics the audience has previously shown interest on. In our previous work, we created a digital storytelling system that simulates this process. The goal of this work is to investigate what is a good balance between the novel topics and the audience's existing interests. We conducted an empirical evaluation using our digital storytelling system. Distinct preferences were observed in relation to both age and gender, with women in general enjoying a more gradual shift in the presentation of novel material.

SimDate3D Level Two

Abstract: In this demo, we present a working example of a simple game based on character-centric interactive storytelling. The game is situated in a small virtual town where three characters, two girls and a boy (or two boys and a girl) are involved in a dating scenario. The player may influence the boy and guide his actions, his goal is to steer the story to a desired shape with as few interventions as possible. The individual agents feature an affect-modulated BDI based architecture and communicate with each other through simple language. The scenario culminates in a simulated confrontation of all three characters. Based on the current state of relationships between the characters, it results in one of multiple possible endings. The game is intended as both a testbed for interactive storytelling technologies as well as a source of data for evaluation of automatic analysis of generated stories.

Faceless Patrons An Augmented Installation Exploring 419-Fictional Narratives

Abstract: 'Faceless patrons' is an installation that documents stories used by Internet scammers in so called 'overpayment check scams'. Scammers use scripted stories to reach their victims, yet when correspondence continues story worlds start to evolve. We created a virtual character to interact with scammers who posed to be art buyers. The installation presents five of these interactive narratives in form of a series of photos each coupled with a forged check. By using smartphones or a tablet an augmented reality layer can be accessed to expose further story elements.

The Visual Construction of Narrative Space in Video Games

Abstract: The video game Perspective (Borgen et al./DigiPen, 2012) poses a challenge onto current classifications of game spaces in the field of game studies, and onto established conventions of dimensionality in the game industry. Based on the challenge posed by this game, this paper explores whether spatial properties of game worlds are intrinsic to them and simply reflected via their representations, or whether their spatial properties are essentially arbitrary and must be produced and held up via spatial discourse. In the light of its findings, the paper questions whether it makes still sense to maintain a categorical distinction between 2D and 3D games.