Towards an Audio-Locative Mobile Application for Immersive Storytelling

Abstract

We live in an age in which digital media is omnipresent and augmented reality is beginning to find its way into our everyday lives, GPS allows us to determine our position with meter precision and the sensor capabilities of smartphones are increasing. All these technologies in combination enable us to explore one of the oldest human art forms in a new way: storytelling. The presented work aims at developing approaches that combine different elements of audio media playback, geolocation and other sensor capabilities of smartphones to allow the creation of immersive geolocated narratives within a mobile application. Thus, the narrative can be precisely adjusted to the specific spatial and temporal context of the user. One of the main goals of such a geolocated narrative would be to influence the cognitive processing of the users. As the visual perception of the location stays the same while using the app, it is only the auditory cognition that causes a subtle enhancement and thus alteration of the reality which could result in a very strong sense of immersion. There are many location-based audio applications on the market. Most of them are intended for tourism in the form of an audio tour guide. Some of those applications have been analyzed before developing our own ideas on how to intertwine sound, space and time into an immersive mobile application for storytelling with semi-linear narrative structures including a map. Possible features could be influenceability of the narrative by, e.g., speed or approach direction of the user, sound movement over time on predetermined routes, etc. The first prototype implemented some audiovisual presentations among others.