Robert Pratten

The Storyworld of Things

@robpratten

Twine, a wireless sensor, was inserted into this soft toy and used to send orientation events (face down, lying on back, sat up) to Conducttr so that the toy could tweet and call the “owner”

http://airpi.es/

The AirPi is an automatic air quality & weather monitoring device powered by a Raspberry Pi temperature, humidity, air pressure, light levels, UV levels, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide and smoke level

CO affects • character’s mood• tone of tweets & blog posts• game difficulty?

Character responses change based on air quality in Mumbai, IndiaIf air quality is good, she’s happy otherwise she’s grumpy or sad

Social Media, Email, Phone

Sensor network

Audience interaction with a story online on social media and email was used to personalise a virtual reality (VR) experience using Unity engine and Oculus Rift. See “Meet Lucy” – on next slide.

Live VR event in which the simulated environment is personalized based on prior interaction with characters online

Real location

Extra-story

Guided adventureSelf-exploration

Real history

Online

PublicData

CorporateData

Personal Data

Conducttr can use real-world data as game mechanics to drive a story or rewards

Real location

Dynamic World

Narrative

Real history

Story Participation

StoryParticipation

Interactive Layer IF this happens THEN…

Narrative Layer JOHN is very ANGRY

Content Layer SEND a TEXT message

Experience Layer OMG! I can’t believe that!!

@robpratten

Kernels Key events. “Narrative moments where the course of events is decided” (Seymour Chatman – 1978)

Satellites Minor events. “do not entail any choice, but serve to flesh out the consequences and details of the kernels” (Seymour Chatman – 1978)

World BuildingResponsive/Reactive/Interactive Environment

Narrative (stories from Author)

Narrative (stories from Author)

Personal Stories

Satellites

Kernals

• Accelerometer motion data• Ambient temperature• Detect user input• Control onboard LEDs• Vibrate a buzzer/motor

Tiny microprocessor for embedding in clothes, wristbands, toys etc.

Mobile app talks to metawaredevice and to Conducttr. Conducttr remembers game state, plot points and can communicate to actors as improvisation cues

• Accelerometer can post tweets and Facebook updates,

• Social network activity can vibrate/flash devices• Collective behaviour can publish a video or ping

the device• Temperature change or other emotional

indicators can change colors or publish blog posts