Synergistic storyscapes and constructionist cinematic sharing

Abstract

This paper describes recent progress toward a framework and toolset for Very Distributed Storytelling. It focuses on three independent but interconnected axes of development: continuous story playout environments, story authoring systems, and scenarios for interaction, particularly those that operate in casual or formal architectural spaces. Aspects of these are explored in several systems currently under development at the Interactive Cinema Group of the MIT Media Laboratory. Agent Stories invites authors to develop story segments that know about their role in the story and agents that can use these role designations to orchestrate the playout of story parts. Happenstance, an ecologically based, context-sensitive "stage" for the performance of interactive narratives, provides an information landscape that is continuous in space and time, supports multiple viewpoints, and acts as a semi-porous membrane to information and messages from the outside world. The CINEMAT and other largescale interactive media pieces-situated in sensor-rich architectural spaces-explore the relationships among immersion, interaction, narrative guidance, and public space. Interactive Cinema reflects the longing of cinema to become something new, something more complex, and something more personal, as if in conversation with an audience.-Mission statement at http://ic.www.media.mit.edu Built in the age of networked communications and "remote telepresence," these electromorphic stories

Examining documentary transmedia narratives throughThe Living History of Fort Scratchleyproject

“…4 As Dena (2009) demonstrates, historically, media and game theorists have described transmedia in the following ways: 'cross-sited narratives' (Ruppel, 2006); 'distributed narratives' (Walker, 2004); 'very distributed stories' (Davenport et al, 2000); 'pervasive games' (Montola, 2009); 'distributed experiences' (McGonigal, 2006); 'superfictions' (Hill, 2001); and, of course, Henry Jenkins's 'transmedia storytelling' (Jenkins, 2006;see: Dena, 2009: 2-3).…”

Sensor systems for interactive surfaces

“…We have used this system in several public installations, 22,66,67 most of which were paired with a simple Doppler radar system 22,68 to also detect upper body motion, providing a highly immersive sensor environment, where any movement produces an appropriate musical response. Figure 15 shows this installation as set up for demonstration in a Media Lab elevator lobby.…”

“…Figure 15 shows this installation as set up for demonstration in a Media Lab elevator lobby. Other groups at the Media Lab have used this carpet for different touring installations, for instance, the Interactive Cinema Group used the system to allow users to literally "walk" through a video sequence, 67 with the inter-frame segues and advances depending on the position and gait characteristics of the participants. There are many other possible interfaces for this system, tracking foot motion without requiring special footwear 69 in immersive virtual reality (VR) installations, identifying individuals based on the characteristics of their gait, 70 etc.…”

StoryMapper: A Multimedia Tool to Externalize Knowledge

“…Stories can be told in many contexts. They are partial, structured memories of observed and articulated reality [9]. When a group of people contributes to build a story, we refer to a Group Storytelling activity [19].…”