Skip to main content

Improvisation and Performance as Models for Interacting with Stories

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNISA,volume 5334))

Abstract

One common metaphor for Interactive Storytelling has been the notion of Interactive Dramas, in which players assume the first-person role of the main character in a digitally mediated narrative. In this paper we explore the model of improvisation as a means of understanding the relationship between the author/designer and the reader/player of such narratives. This model allows for a new formulation of the notion of agency, by shifting the concept of the reader from a player-centric model to a performer-centric model. We also show how we can conceive of interactions between performers and authors as being governed by the same rules that are in play between multiple performers in a piece of improvisational theatre. We connect this idea to a phenomenological theory of human computer interaction and cognition which foregrounds the role of communication and commitment between interactors.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Buying options

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. Laurel, B.: Computers as Theatre. Addison-Wesley Longman Publishing Co., Inc., Boston (1993)

    Google Scholar 

  2. Murray, J.: Hamlet on the Holodeck: the future of narrative in cyberspace. MIT Press, Cambridge (1997)

    Google Scholar 

  3. Mateas, M.: A Preliminary Poetics for Interactive Drama and Games. In: Wardrip-Fruin, N., Harrigan, P. (eds.) First Person: New Media as Performance, Story, and Game, vol. 1, pp. 19–33. MIT Press, Cambridge (2004)

    Google Scholar 

  4. Aarseth, E.J.: Genre Trouble: Narrativsm and the Art of Simulation. In: Wardrip-Fruin, N., Harrigan, P. (eds.) First Person: New Media As Story, Performance, and Game, pp. 45–49. MIT Press, Cambridge (2004)

    Google Scholar 

  5. Aylett, R., Louchart, S., Dias, J., Paiva, A., Vala, M.: FearNot! - an experiment in emergent narrative. In: Panayiotopoulos, T., Gratch, J., Aylett, R.S., Ballin, D., Olivier, P., Rist, T. (eds.) IVA 2005. LNCS (LNAI), vol. 3661, pp. 305–316. Springer, Heidelberg (2005)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  6. Cavazza, M., Charles, F., Mead, S.J.: Planning Characters’ Behavior in Interactive Storytelling. The Journal of Visualization and Computer Animation 13, 121–131 (2002)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Mateas, M., Stern, A.: Facade: An Experiment in Building a Fully-Realized Interactive Drama. In: Game Developers Conference, Game Design Track, San Jose, CA (2003)

    Google Scholar 

  8. Seif El-Nasr, M.: Interaction, Narrative, and Drama Creating an Adaptive Interactive Narrative using Performance Art Theories. Interaction Studies 8 (2007)

    Google Scholar 

  9. Szilas, N.: IDtension: A narrative engine for Interactive Drama. In: TIDSE 2003: Technologies for Interactive Digital Storytelling and Entertainment, Darmstadt, Germany (2003)

    Google Scholar 

  10. Thue, D., Bulitko, V., Spetch, M., Wasylishen, E.: Learning Player Preferences to Inform Delayed Authoring. In: AAAI Fall Symposium on Intelligent Narrative Technologies. AAAI Press, Arlington (2007)

    Google Scholar 

  11. Crawford, C.: Chris Crawford on Interactive Storytelling. New Riders Games, Berkely (2005)

    Google Scholar 

  12. Riedl, M., Saretto, C.J., Young, R.M.: Managing interaction between users and agents in a multi-agent storytelling environment. In: Proceedings of the second international joint conference on Autonomous agents and multiagent systems, pp. 741–748. ACM Press, Melbourne (2003)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  13. Winograd, T., Flores, F.: Understanding Computers and Cognition. Ablex Publishing Corporation, Norwood (1986)

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  14. Mateas, M., Stern, A.: Interaction and Narrative. In: Zimmerman, E., Katie, S. (eds.) The Game Design Reader: A Rules of Play Anthology, vol. 1, pp. 642–669. MIT Press, Cambridge (2006)

    Google Scholar 

  15. Lockford, L., Pelias, R.J.: Bodily Poeticizing in Theatrical Improvisation: A Typology of Performative Knowledge. Theatre Topics 14, 431–443 (2004)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Zimmerman, E.: Narrative, Interactivity, Play, and Games: Four Naughty Concepts in Need of Discipline. In: Wardrip-Fruin, N., Harrigan, P. (eds.) First Person: New Media as Performance, Story, and Game, vol. 1, pp. 154–164. MIT Press, Cambridge (2004)

    Google Scholar 

  17. Pearce, C.: Towards a Game Theory of Game. In: Wardrip-Fruin, N., Harrigan, P. (eds.) First Person: New Media as Story, Performance, and Game, vol. 1, pp. 143–153. MIT Press, Cambridge (2004)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2008 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this paper

Cite this paper

Tanenbaum, T., Tanenbaum, K. (2008). Improvisation and Performance as Models for Interacting with Stories. In: Spierling, U., Szilas, N. (eds) Interactive Storytelling. ICIDS 2008. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 5334. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-89454-4_32

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-89454-4_32

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-89424-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-89454-4

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics