Æliens

XIMPEL Interactive Video -- between narrative(s) and game play

Anton Eliëns, Hugo Huurdeman, Marek van de Watering, Winoe Bhikharie

Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam

viral(s)

• relevance -- what is our message?
• identity -- who are we?
• impact -- why would anybody be interested?

criteria

• challenge -- relevance, feedback, confidence
• curiosity -- cognitive or sensitive discrepancy
• control -- contingency, choice, power
• context -- intrinsic or extrinsic metaphor(s)

The Clima Futura game addresses the issues of climate change, not altogether without pathos nor ethos, but nevertheless primarily focussed on bringing the logos of climate change into the foreground, in other words the scientific issues that are at play, and the science-based insights and uncertainties that may govern our decisions in the political debate.

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Fig 1. Game play, Simulation (W), Exploration

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game elements

1. game cycle -- turns in subsequent rounds (G)
2. simulation(s) -- based on climate model (W)
3. exploration(s) -- by means of mini-games (E)

  <subject name="ExpertDebate">
  <longname>
      Discussion between Dorland and Kroonenberg
  </longname>
  <score>2</score>
  <videos>
  <video file="debate-01"></video>
  <video file="debate-02"></video>
  <video file="debate-03">
    <question>
        Van Dorland is against mitigation
    </question>
    <rightanswer>false</rightanswer>
  </video>
  <video file="debate-04">
    <question>
        Kroonenberg proposes adaptation to change
    </question>
    <rightanswer>true</rightanswer>
  </video>
  <video file="debate-05" repeat="true">
    <branchquestion>
        Are you worried about the climate?
    </branchquestion>
    <overlays>
    <overlay
       position="01" label="AntiMeasures"
       position2="31" label2="ProMeasures"/>
    </overlays>
  </video>
  </videos>
  </subject>
  

  <subject name="ProMeasures">
  <longname>
      Yes, and I want climate measures!
  </longname>
  <score>4</score>
  <videos>
  <video file="nature-01"></video>
  </videos>
  </subject>
  

  <subject name="AntiMeasures">
  <longname>
      No, and I don't want climate measures!
  </longname>
  <score>3</score>
  <videos>
  <video file="mediocre-01"></video>
  </videos>
  </subject>
  

playlist element(s)

• subject(s) -- with video fragment(s)
• video(s) -- to present the material
• question(s) -- transitory or modal branching
• overlay(s) -- to indicate choice point(s) for branching
• score(s) -- assigning (bonus) points

project interactive multimedia

To design and develop a moderately complex multimedia application, with both educational and game elements, as part of a communication strategy for some particular goal or issue of societal relevance.

learning goals

• elementary web-based multimedia technology
• programming/tools for interactive animation and video
• first principles of information visualisation
• basic media and communication theory
• the design of an effective communication plan
• business and societal context of media deployment

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Fig 2. (a) Mario (107)	(b) Tour (302)

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Fig 3. (a) SMS/MSN (205)	(b) Course(s) (301)

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Fig 4. (a) Convergence	(b) Divergence

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branching structure.

• redundancy -- large amounts of video material are needed for branching,  [HyperVideo]
• closure -- conflict of (user) control and coherence,  [Linear]

aspect(s)

1. information -- presenting scenario-based tours
2. game challenges -- choices in virtual story space
3. diagnostics -- by recording users' choice(s)

argument(s)

• topic-centered -- using logic and examples
• viewer-centered -- discussing viewpoints
• speaker-centered -- based on authority

Clima Futura Labs

• game play -- scenario to counteract climate change
• interview(s) -- opinions about change and attitude(s)
• information portal(s) -- immersive video-enhanced panorama(s)

[Museum] Alexander C., Burnette A., Dark D. Hart D, Rossi J. ,

Minor N. (2007), Beyond Launch: Museum Videos on YouTube, In Proc. Museum on the Web 2008, Montreal, Canada

[GamePatterns] Björk S. and Holopainen J. (2005),

Patterns in Game Design, Charles River Media

[Vox] Bocconi S. (2006),

Vox Populi: generating video documentation from semantically annotated data repositories, Ph.D. Thesis SIKS 2006-27

[Remediation] Bolter J.D and Grusin R. (2000),

Remediation -- Understanding New Media, MIT Press

[FilmArt] Bordwell D., Thompson K. (2001),

Film Art: An Introduction, 6th edition, McGraw-Hill

[VULife] Eliens A. and S.V. Bhikharie (2006),

Game @ VU -- developing a masterclass for high-school students using the Half-life 2 SDK, In: Proc. GAME'ON-NA'2006, Monterey, USA

[Serious] Eliens A. and Chang T. (2007),

Let's be serious -- ICT is not a (simple) game, In Proc. FUBUTEC 2007

[SecondLife] Eliens A. Feldberg F., Konijn E., Compter E. (2007a) ,

VU @ Second Life -- creating a (virtual) community of learners, In Proc. EUROMEDIA 2007, Delft, Netherlands

[Climate] Eliens A., van de Watering M., Huurdeman H.,

Bhikharie S.V., Lemmers H., Vellinga P. (2007b), Clima Futura @ VU -- communicating (unconvenient) science, In Proc. GAME-ON 07, Bologna, Italy

[Replay] Eliens A. and Ruttkay Z. (2008),

Record, Replay & Reflect -- a framework for understanding (serious) game play, submitted to GAME-ON 08, Valencia, Spain

[Video] Lisa Larson and Renee Costantini (2008),

Flash Video for Professionals: Expert Techniques for Integrating Video on the Web, Sybex

[Story] Lindley E. (2005),

Story and Narrative Structures in Computer Games, in Bushoff, Brunhild. ed. 2005. Developing Interactive Narrative Content: sagas/sagasnet reader. Munich: High Text

[Linear] Riedl M., Young M. (2006),

From Linear Story Generation to Branching Story Graphs , IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications, 26(3), 2006. Special Issue on Interactive Narrative.

[HyperVideo] Sawhney N., Balcom D., Smith I. (1996),

HyperCafe: narrative and aesthetic properties of hypervideo, In: Proc. of the the seventh ACM conference on Hypertext, 1996