Audience, participant and agency: Need for role definition in interactive visual narratives

Abstract

In this paper we look at the role and a new definition for audience, participants and agency that can be used for analysis of Interactive Visual Narratives (IVNs). The definition of characters or actors from the semiotic elements of narrative studies cannot be directly used to investigate IVNs because, as interactivity comes to play, the actor could be the participant in the narrative or the agency that forms that constraints. Similarly, role of audience and author of the narrative changes based on the level of interactivity provided. In order to support our preceding premise, our analysis begins by looking at the influencing disciplines and building a conceptual model of digital agents that can play the role of actors in an IVN. Having looked at the role of actors and action in IVNs, we ensue our discussion on influencing applications and sample IVNs where the actors, their environments and the plot comes into play. We draw from the various examples examined to summarize the different approaches towards providing interactivity; narrative structure based on nodes and a simulation or an open-ended virtual world that contains procedure based narrative elements. We also try to distinguish the interactivity available at various levels and take a critical look at the role of author and participant. In conclusion we arrive at a new definition of Audience, Participant and Agency suitable to carry out investigation of the IVNs.