You Are Here: A model for interactive narrative.

Pillsbury, Christine

The condition "you are here" speaks to three states of being. "You" represents not only audience - the user - but is also a signifier of the point of view (POV) of that user. "Are" represents a state of time, the term "are" being present tense, as opposed to the terms "were" and "will be". "Here" signifies place, or better put a juncture within a geographic space, a definable place in time.

All together, "You", the filtered perception - "are" associated in time with - "here" a place, or better yet - an experience. In an interactive space user input, referred to as "Rollover" is the manner in which one responds to stimulus within the realm "You" being (are) somewhere (here) at any given time. A user's response is a unique moment when they make a choice based on their perception on the stimulus moment.

Given the above, the following is essential to the creation of a definable experience. One must know in a relative sense "where" "you" "are", but more importantly who you are, where you have been and where you can go. In the case of narrative, the term "you" represents two things: The reader/ user, and the character through which the story is revealed. Why? Because we are not experiencing things first hand, we experience them via a character, or narrator (essentially a character as well). "Here" is a relative term, meaning where "you" are in respect to the definable story-line. The state of being, or experiencing - "are" is dependant on "You" and "Here".

Interactivity can have a direct effect on the user's perception of a story - those multiple perceptions can be planned, and become an integral part of the narrative. The author of an interactive narrative can allow for, and plan a more engaging dramatic build by providing the opportunity to let the "user's" point of view have a direct impact on the story's perception via choosing one character's POV over another. If a user can experience a narrative with the ability of choosing how they transverse it, or from what character's perception, then a user will have a more unique experience with the narrative. In some sense, allowing the user's POV to "entangle" with the character's POV will merge these two filtered perceptions to create a uniquely personal experience of narrative.

In narrative, the third person point of view is often considered a privileged point of view. In kaleidoscopic story telling, each 1st person point of view can also serve as a privileged vantage point in which the user can gain information unknown to other characters within the story. In this case, the reader becomes the 3rd person piecing together all the secret information that the character's themselves may not be aware of. It is this formed perception that creates the story in our minds.

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