Design Issues for Interactive Drama

Peter Jagodzinski, Dan Livingstone, Mike Phillips,
Tom Rogers and Simon Turley.

Human-Centred Systems Design Research Group,
School of Computing,
University of Plymouth,
Plymouth. PL4 8AA.
Peterj@soc.plym.ac.uk

ABSTRACT
Interactive television is imminent and promises new convergences of computing and the arts. Design models are needed which comprehend artistic and technical goals. INTRODUCTION
There is a radical change on the horizon which will affect the way in which we see the boundaries of what constitutes "computing". This is the convergence of digital television with broadband network technology and multimedia computing. When the change is in place, forecast to be by 2010, (Loveridge et al, 1995), interactive multimedia will be accessible to everyone in the world who currently watches television. In this way the centre of gravity of interactions with computers seems likely to shift from being mainly concerned with primarily rational activity such as information processing towards encompassing those aspects of our lives which also involve our senses and emotions, culture and values, through the arts entertainment and education. Potentially the range of new roles for computers which will accompany the forecast market shift is as least as wide as the spectrum offered by the existing entertainment and education industries and, arguably, wider because of the new affordances provided by interactivity.
The purpose of this short paper is to describe research which has begun to explore the design of a new form of computing, namely interactive drama. The research is not concerned with the technology but with the way in which humans may become involved with a form of interactive computing which has emotional, cultural, social and informational elements combined. The issue facing designers of this form of software is the need for design models which comprehend an arts paradigm in which human subjective experience is the target effect sought by the designer, rather than conventional quantitative, objectively measured "performance enhancement". The paper concentrates on one example of this new form of computing, that is the use of interactive drama as a medium for accessing and extending human understanding. DESIGNING FOR SUBJECTIVE EXPERIENCE
As children and adults we learn far more about the world from experience, direct and vicarious, than we do from formal learning. Such everyday learning probably involves the acquisition of facts, concepts and rules, but these may not be made explicit and may also be embedded in a complex assembly of perceptions and experiences from interactions with the physical world, our interpersonal relationships, and our situation within social groups and cultures. Cultural and social norms, attitudes and expectations, are formed by means of our direct experience of the world, but also conditioned by observing and empathising with the experience of others, as well as by anecdote, literature and the performing arts, in particular through the medium which most of us see most of, television. Our individual identity, the person we become, and our stance with respect to the rest of the world are shaped by such experience. Kozma (1991), Laurillard (1993) and Simpson (1994) have described the power of different media forms in delivering learning resources and the psychological processes which they involve. Bandura (1997) has also discussed the idea that depiction of social events in the mass media can provide the foundation for mental models of cultural and social norms and conventions.
The aim of the research at Plymouth is to explore the potential of interactive drama within a multimedia learning environment (MLE) as a medium for humanistic learning. The domain in question is that of pregnancy and childbirth, emphasising emotional and social issues, but with access to relevant information sources too. This is a field in which prospective parents are often ill-prepared for the consequences of major life-changing decisions and events and can be over-dependent on the caring services to make decisions for them. The aim of the MLE is to empower prospective parents to take control of their own lives. Interactive drama (ID) provides an accessible, engaging means of enabling parents to experience vicariously, and thus to rehearse and anticipate the problems, conflicts, anxieties and threats which can be part of childbirth.
The design of the MLE tracks the nine months of pregnancy, highlighting points at which crucial issues arise. For example, a decision has to be made at about week 16 as to whether an amniocentesis should be carried out to test for a number of possible genetic disorders, but this carries the risk of causing a miscarriage. ID portrays the emotional, social and family issues associated with various possible outcomes arising from the different choices that parents could make. Conventional hypermedia links are also used to provide factual information on foetal development, physiological changes, medical and care issues. Within the ID interactivity provides access at four levels: version of events; point of view of characters in the drama; internal monologues of the characters; expansion of information by hypermedia. Design and production issues include the requirement for several versions of each scenario to be scripted, acted, directed, videoed and edited, as well as the need for software engineers, human factors specialists, domain specialists and multimedia artists to collaborate. With such diversity of backgrounds creating a shared vision and complementary goals is a difficult yet vital role for the producer.The research is described in more detail by Jagodzinski et al (1998).
CONCLUSIONS
Interactive drama requires the convergence of design models from HCI, computer games, drama, film and art. Interactivity adds new affordances to these traditional media models and new design paradigms are beginning to emerge, in particular from the young field of interactive multimedia design.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This work was funded by the HEFCE QR initiative.
REFERENCES
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