Mobile context aware stories

Abstract

An interactive narrative is a story that is shaped by digital technology and that allows the dynamic presentation of scenes or sequences based on input from the user. In this paper we present a new foundation for interactive storytelling that allows a mobile user to interact with a story. The user is placed at the center of the story and the story comes to the user in transit. The behavior and actions of the user influence the scenes and sequences of the story the user experiences. The framework for this system is an ad-hoc network. Ad-hoc networks allow localized presentation of story elements to users who are in transit and able to receive story elements on a mobile device. Furthermore ad-hoc networks have the capability to be context-aware and respond to the physical and social context of the user both on an individual and group level. This mobile context-aware story form is a powerful format in the fields of education and entertainment. It allows the story to be connected with the surrounding environment and it allows the user to see cause and effect of individual and group behavior. In this paper we present an ad-hoc network story system and examine a case study of its use for a prototype mobile context-aware story.