Authoring tangible interactive narratives using cognitive hyperlinks

Abstract

Creating content for different forms of interactive narratives requires a different set of skills and techniques than writing non-interactive stories. In this paper we describe a prototype tangible interactive narrative system called the Reading Glove and outline the authoring process used to create story content for it. We begin by discussing different approaches to authoring that are currently in use in interactive digital storytelling. We then discuss in detail the process of writing the story for the Reading Glove and provide an analysis of the fiction created through this process. We put forth the notion of "cognitive hyperlinks": a design technique that we believe has utility for the authors of future interactive narratives. We conclude with a set of general design recommendations for authoring within interactive storytelling systems. © 2010 ACM.