The project discussed in this paper is aimed at increasing people’s understanding of the existence and desired workings of ambient technology in the home by demonstrating its potential. For this purpose, an interactive dollhouse is presented. The dollhouse, a miniature model of a sensor-equipped home, was developed and used to engage elderly users in the design of an ambient monitoring system. This paper explains the design of the interactive dollhouse and the ways it was used as an elderly-centered design method for increasing understanding of the desired workings of ambient monitoring in the home.
Ga in gesprek met ooggetuigen van de Tweede Wereldoorlog ín oorlogstijd bij Erfgoed ’s-Hertogenbosch vanaf 16 november. Via interactieve portretten sta je oog in oog met de Bosschenaren Roosje, Fientje en Jan tijdens gebeurtenissen die hun leven veranderen.De bezoeker ontmoet de Bosschenaren Roosje, Fientje en Jan in de interactieve expositie en kan met hen in gesprek gaan. De Tweede Wereldoorlog krijgt in deze vernieuwende publiekspresentatie vanuit verschillende perspectieven gezicht. Diverse thema's zoals het dagelijks leven, verzet, collaboratie, vervolging en bevrijding komen aan bod. De personen worden geïntroduceerd door historica en Andere Tijden-presentatrice Astrid Sy. De inzet van innovatieve technieken, zoals spraakherkenning, maakt het mogelijk om virtueel een actief gesprek te voeren met de persoon uit de Tweede Wereldoorlog. Iets dat in het echt nauwelijks meer mogelijk is, omdat bijna alle ooggetuigen van de oorlog zijn overleden.
The evolution of digital media has fostered the emergence of new and adapted forms of storytelling. Journalism combines classic narrative resources with technology and interactive strategies to inform, explain and represent reality. After an initial stage of adaptation and experimentation, it is necessary to reflect on the contribution of the new formats to contemporary, quality journalism for new active audiences. This chapter summarizes the evolution of digital journalistic narrative to identify the differentiating elements that have come from the intersection of documentary and journalism, as well as the new approaches that have arisen from immersive technologies. A panoramic vision will allow us to establish a roadmap to advance the production and research of storytelling for a complex world.
We had been involved in the redesign of the 4 Period Rooms of the Marquise Palace, also called the Palace of Secrets, in Bergen op Zoom. This design was based on the biography of a historical figure: Marie Anne van Arenberg, whose dramatic life was marked by secrets. Each of the 4 rooms represents a turning moment in Marie Anne’s story: the official marriage, the secret marriage and the betrayal, the dilemma and choice, with, in a final room, the epilogue. These different episodes are reflected in the way the rooms are furnished: the ballroom, the bedroom, the dining room. The Secret Marquise as design and exhibition has brought more visitors to the museum. As designers and researchers, however, we were interested in understanding more about this success, and, in particular, in understanding the visitors experience, both emotionally and sensorially at different moments/situations during the story-driven experience.In the fall of 2021, the visitors’ lived experience was evaluated using different approaches: a quantitative approach using biometric measurements to register people’s emotions during their visit, and a qualitative one consisting of a combination of observations, visual imagery, and interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA).Qualitatively, our aim was to understand how respondents made sense of Marie Anne’s story in the way in which this was presented throughout the exhibition. We specifically looked at the personal context and frame of reference (e.g., previous experiences, connection to the visitor’s own life story, associations with other stories from other sources). In the design of the rooms, we used a combination of digital/interactive elements (such as a talking portrait, an interactive dinner table, an interactive family painting), and traditional physical objects (some 17th century original objects, some reproductions from that time). The second focal point of the study is to understand how these different elements lead the visitors experience.
Deze aanvraag betreft de productie van een viertal experimenten, uitgevoerd in samenwerking met MKB partners, op gebied van interactive storytelling voor 360 graden media. In deze video-experimenten gaat het om het testen van elementen voor de nieuwe beeldtaal, die vereist is voor 360 graden film. Gedurende de looptijd van het project worden drie symposia georganiseerd waarop alle betrokkenen de studies bespreken. Naast MKB hebben ook de omroepen VPRO en AVRO/TROS zich aan dit voorstel verbonden, alsmede de VU, UvA,TU Delft en de Nederlandse Filmacademie.
Postdoc research project Transformation through Interactive Narrative DesignMedia psychologist dr. Christian Roth's postdoc project Transformation through Interactive Narrative Design (TIND) is part of the Professorship Performative Creative Processes, the school Games & Interaction, and the Expertisecentrum Onderzoek, Innovatie en Internationalisering (OOI). Here, Christian interweaves education and practice-oriented research. He studies the artistic, pedagogical and academic perspectives regarding the power of transformation through applied Interactive Narrative Design (IND).Within the two-year postdoc research project TIND, Christian studies the training of interactive narrative designers with the goal of developing teaching methods and learning tools for artists and designers, such as game and interaction designers, to enable them to create more effective artefacts.Why interactive narrative design?IND offers agency, defined as the ability to influence narrative progression and outcomes in a meaningful way. As such, it carries the potential to create and emotional impact and spark transformative change. This enables interactors to explore different points of view and to feel the weight of their own choices and consequences. This, in turn, allows for a more thorough understanding of complex multi-stakeholder issues, which could have a significant impact on the success of emerging artistic, and learning applications.The TIND project will enable designers through an interdisciplinary approach, including applied game design, immersive theatre, behavioral and cognitive psychology, and the learning sciences.A good example for offering different perspectives on a complex topic is the narrative simulation Mission Zhobia: Winning the Peace, which is used for the training of peacekeepers. Or the news game, I am Mosul, which aims to raise awareness around the effects of war by bringing it close to home: choose your Dutch city and make choices on how to survive if the war was there. And the interactive story Adventures with Anxiety offers a new understanding by letting interactors play anxiety embodied within a wolf. IND is a complex and challenging interdisciplinary field in which design knowledge from other media can often not be directly transferred. As a new medium, it introduces new affordances in technique and user experience. This requires practice-based research for further development of the educational format, demonstrating its potential while identifying and overcoming common learners’ challenges. This project aims to develop a framework for the design and evaluation of meaningful interactive narrative experiences that effectively stimulate a variety of cognitive and emotional responses such as reflection, insight, understanding, and potential behavior change. It provides tools, methods and activities to enable aspiring or practicing narrative designers through an interdisciplinary approach, including game design, immersive theatre, behavioral and cognitive psychology, and the learning sciences.HKU education means to prepare students for success in the creative industries and IND plays an important role for current and future jobs in education, arts and entertainment. IND has the potential to create an emotional impact and spark transformative change by offering agency, defined as the ability to influence narrative progression and outcomes in a meaningful way. This enables interactors to feel the weight of their own choices and their consequences, to explore different perspectives, and to more thoroughly understand complex multi-stakeholder issues, which could have significant impact on the success of emerging artistic, and learning applications.The planned output is a collection of design tools and methods for interdisciplinary workshops and courses, which can be integrated into different curricula at the HKU, thereby enhancing existing programs while enabling the refinement of training methods. Once completed, this postdoc project delivers a training method with multiple applications designed to harness the power of interactive storytelling for transformative personal and societal impact.ColloborationsThe research project is directly embedded in the curriculum of the HKU schoolGames & Interaction with annual educational offerings such as the Minor Interactive Narrative Design (MIND) and HKU wide broad seminars. Course evaluation and literature research will be used to create new and adjusted training for different HKU schools and the industry.More informationAre you interested to learn more about the postdoc research project Transformation through Interactive Narrative Design? Get in touch with Christian Roth: christian.roth@hku.nl
