An authoring tool for interactive digital storytelling

Abstract

Stories that are read are usually linear and fixed in their form and structure. Stories that are told are often flexible in these respects: the storyteller can change order and content in response to the audience reaction and participation. Interactive multimedia and digital storytelling technologies now make the presentation of interactive stories possible, with non-linear narrative flow and dynamic character definitions and developments. Authoring such interactive stories has thus become a new challenge for authors and artists.We report on the development and initial tests of a prototype authoring support tool that is intended to support authors in the design, construction and specification of Digital Interactive Stories for multimedia presentation platforms. This Authoring Tool is part of the art-E-fact project- a collaborative project funded by the EU- in which it serves as an experimental platform for understanding how artists and authors want to create these new kinds of 'Digital Stories'.