Mobile Urban Drama: interactive storytelling in real world environments

Abstract

This article presents methods and tools for producing location-based Mobile Urban Dramas. In a Mobile Urban Drama, the user becomes the main character in a play that is presented as a multimedia production (through audio, images, animations and videos) on the user's mobile phone and in the physical surroundings. The media files are linked via tags (2D barcodes/RFID) or GPS to the real world set as the stage of the drama. The dramaturgical concept is described, and a narrative architecture is introduced. It supports a rich variety of plot graphs implemented in a software framework that supports producing Mobile Urban Dramas. Dramas produced with the framework may span from pure art pieces to structured learning experiences, for example, biology learning framed in a thriller. Experiences from six dramas produced with the framework by a Danish theatre group are discussed. The results are general findings on the concept, the narrative structure, scenographic effects and tools for technical production.