Workshop and Panel: The Authoring Process in Interactive Storytelling

Abstract

At TIDSE 2006, we conducted a pre-conference demo workshop [1] that addressed the issue of developing accessible solutions for the creation of interactive storytelling artworks and applications. As a principle of the workshop, participants demonstrated their authoring systems using a shared story: the Grimm’s fairy tale of Little Red Riding Hood. They were allowed to change and adapt the initial story in order to meet the underlying technical philosophy of their system, and in order to introduce interactivity. This exercise quickly made obvious that a) – not surprisingly – there are several ways and strategies to make a story interactive, and b) that the creative approaches suggested by these systems differ fundamentally, making it hard to get an integrated picture of ‘Interactive Storytelling’ from a creator’s point of view. The comparative approach of this ‘hands-on’ workshop prompted vivid discussions, and provided a platform to even explain some cryptic algorithms to a broader audience than only to A.I. researchers. Because of the encouraging results, the concept of the initial workshop is revived at Interactive Storytelling ’08. In this second edition, in addition to tool demonstrations in a workshop, a plenary panel with brief presentations is organized. It provides a quick overview of showcases in current state-of-the-art authoring systems and creation methods.