Alex Mitchell

NetEffect: a network architecture for large-scale multi-user virtual worlds

We describe NetEffect, a highly-scalable architecture for developing, supporting and managing large, media-rich, 3D virtual worlds used by several thousand geographically dispersed users using low-end computers (PCs) and modems. NetEffect partitions a whole virtual world into communities, allocates these communities among a set of servers, and migrates clients from one server to another as clients move through the communities. It devotes special attention to minimizing the network traffic, in particular, the traftic that must go through servers. HistoryCity, a virtual world for children, has been developed on NetEffect and is currently being beta-tested for deployment in Singapore.

SASSE: the collaborative editor

Writing k very often a collaborative activity. Despite this, very little is understood about how people write together, and very few systems are available to support this activity. This video presents the results of our studies into collaborative writing, and shows how the results of our work have been applied to the design of SAS SE (Synchronous Asynchronous Structured Shared Editor). PURPOSE AND IMPACT Many authors work collaboratively; in fact, approximately 85% of all business and academic documents are written by several authors. Since single-user word processors are not designed to support joint writing, several research groups have begun to develop new technologies appropriate to the task [2, 5,6, 10]. To understand the collaborative writing process, we carried out extensive behavioral studies, including interviews, laboratory and field studies [7, 8, 9]. From this work, we were able to develop a taxonomy of collaborative writing, and proceed with the iterative design of appropriate software for this purpose [1, 3, 4]. This video presents some of what we have learned from these studies, and explains how this understanding of the writing process is reflected in the design of a new collaborative writing tool, called SASSE. SHARED WORKSPACE In our laboratory studies we observed that one problem facing authors working on conventional technology was the inability to see each others work. Permission to copy without fee all or part of this material is granted provided that the copies are not made or distributed for direct commercial advantage, the ACM copyright notice and the mle of the pubhcation and its date appear, and notice is given thet COpyine L by per-;.skn of tho Assaeistien for Camputirm Machinery. To copy otherwise, or to republish, requires e fee andlor specific permission. There was clearly a need to provide a shared workspace, a common document to which all authors have access. The form of this workspace varies depending on the stage of writing, and the style of collaboration, but in all cases some form of common point of reference was needed. SASSE provides this shared workspace in the form of a shined document. Authors are able to work on networked Macintosh computers, possibly separated geographically, on a single document. We assume that an external communications channel, such as a telephone or a video phone, is used to connect the authors. Each author working on a document is assigned a unique colour, which can be used to identify …

Developing social virtual worlds using NetEffect

This paper describes NetEffect, an infrastructure for developing, supporting, and managing large, media-rich, 3-D social virtual worlds for use by several thousand geographically-dispersed users using low-end computers (PCs) and modems. It has been modularized into six components, in the form of a toolkit, which simplifies the development of network-based virtual worlds. NetEffect partitions a whole virtual world into communities, allocates these communities among a set of servers, and migrates clients from one server to another as clients move through the communities. It devotes special attention to minimizing the network traffic, particularly the traffic that must go through servers. HistoryCity, a virtual world for children, has been developed on NetEffect, which is being beta-tested for deployment in Singapore.

Designing hypertext tools to facilitate authoring multiple points-of-view stories

How can authoring tools help authors create complex, innovative hypertext narrative structures? Tools for creating hypertext fiction typically represent such narratives in the form of nodes and links. However, existing tools are not particularly helpful when an author wants to create a story with a more complex structure, such as a story told from multiple points of view. In this paper, we describe our work to develop HypeDyn, a new hypertext authoring tool that provides alternative representations designed to make it easier to create complex hypertext story structures. As an initial exploration, the tool has been designed to support authoring of interactive, multiple-points-of-view stories. In order to describe the tool, we describe a simplified transformation of Rashomon into a progressively more interactive narrative. Along the way, we identify useful new representations, mechanisms, and visualizations for helping the author. We conclude with some thoughts about the design of interactive storytelling authoring tools in general.

Motivations for rereading in interactive stories: a preliminary investigation

This paper describes a preliminary investigation into the concept of rereadability in interactive stories. Through a close reading of the text-based interactive fiction Alabaster, seven possible motivations for rereading an interactive story are identified. This close reading suggests that, while there are many ways in which rereadability in interactive stories is similar to rereadability in traditional (non-interactive) fiction, there are also forms of rereadability that are unique to interactive storytelling.

Rereading in interactive stories: constraints on agency and procedural variation

A central problem for interactive storytelling research is how to create a story which procedurally varies as the result of a users actions, while still feeling like a story. Research has largely concentrated on how to provide coherent variations each time a user experiences an interactive story, without consideration for the relationship between subsequent experiences. This paper examines the issues that arise when designing an interactive story system which is intended to be reread as the result of a reframing. Through a discussion of several types of reframing drawn from non-interactive films, we argue that, when an interactive story makes use of a reframing to encourage rereading, the requirements for narrative coherence, selection and ordering extend across reading sessions. This introduces constraints in terms of what can be varied procedurally in response to user actions which do not occur in interactive stories which are not explicitly designed to be reread.

Designing Storytelling Games That Encourage Narrative Play

Storytelling games are a form of competitive storytelling framed in the context of gameplay. However, most existing storytelling games emphasize competitive gameplay and winning at the expense of competitive narrative play; they tend to be storytelling games rather than storytelling games. This paper explores issues related to the design of storytelling games that are won through narrative play and proposes a number of design rules for this. These design rules not only help in the design of storytelling games with a stronger element of narrative play, they also have implications for the design of computational storytelling systems.

Comparing Effects of Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment Systems on Video Game Experience

Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment (DDA) is used by game designers to adaptively balance game challenge against player skill during play. While many DDA implementations exist, few comparative empirical studies, if any, have been done. This study investigates the effects of DDA systems on player experience through 3 conditions: no DDA, system-oriented ramping DDA (rDDA) and player-oriented DDA (pDDA). The presence of DDA was found to produce better overall game experiences. However, we found that players in the rDDA condition experienced less self-consciousness and more transformation of time but a lower sense of control compared to the players in the pDDA condition. Our findings provide new insight into DDA, demonstrating that while DDA systems can provide superior game experiences, specific drawbacks reduce their effectiveness. These considerations are of interest to interactive system designers, extending beyond games to areas where these types of adaptive systems have beneficial applications (e.g. physiotherapy or learning).

Helping the Helpers: Understanding Family Storytelling by Domestic Helpers in Singapore

The recording and sharing of family stories remains an important aspect of what it means to be a “family”. Existing research has shown that such stories help family members maintain close bonds. Additionally, the sharing of personal experiences can help family members create and present individual and family identities. Traditionally, these stories are shared face-to-face. However, for a variety of reasons, more families are geographically distributed. While there has been extensive research into how migrant workers make use of ICTs for social support or interpersonal communication, there remains a gap in understanding how these workers use ICTs specifically for family storytelling. To address this, we conducted two rounds of ethnographic interviews with 25 Filipino domestic helpers in Singapore. At the same time, we sought to examine the types of stories these women currently share. As such, we deployed cultural probe packs which consisted of a disposable camera and writing materials. The interview findings show that factors such as cost or limited access to technology resulted in fewer opportunities for family storytelling. In addition, interviewees also described themselves to have “nothing interesting to share” and that they were “unable to do more” in terms of sharing their experiences with their families back home. Interestingly, the cultural probe findings suggest that this perception may not always be accurate, as evidenced by how the participants were able to reflect upon their daily lives and record numerous personal experiences using the probes.

Reflective Rereading and the SimCity Effect in Interactive Stories

Reflective rereading in print literature involves a critical or meditative re-examination of a work for deeper meanings. In this paper I argue that, in interactive stories, reflective rereading can involve examining the surface of an interactive work with the aim of gaining a deeper understanding of and appreciation for how the underlying computational system functions, and how this internal structure relates to the surface experience of the work as a story. I explore this through close readings of four interactive stories: The Walking Dead (Season 1), Facade, Prom Week, and Blood and Laurels. Through this analysis, I make connections between this form of reflective rereading and Wardrip-Fruin’s “SimCity Effect”, suggesting a correspondence between works that afford reflective rereading and those that exhibit the SimCity effect. Further, I suggest that the abstractions used to represent the underlying system will impact whether or not an interactive story affords reflective rereading.