Zip-Scene Conference vol. 2. Analogue&Digital Immersive Spaces

Interactive Narratives – the Future of Storytelling and Immersion in mixed reality mediums and performing arts

DETAILED PROGRAM

DAY 1 – Sunday, 10th November

9.30 - 10.00

REGISTRATION, MORNING COFFEE

10.00 - 10.30
WELCOME

1st Session
AR: EXPERIENCE AND NARRATIVE
Chair: Dimitar Uzunov

10.30 - 10.50
Sonic Landscapes and Interactive Narratives. An Experiment in Augmented Audio
Ambrus Ivanyos (independent creator, Hungary)

10.50 - 11.10
Meaningful Agency in Immersive and Participatory AR Experiences
Astrid Breel & Sharon Clark & Matthew Freeman (Bath Spa University, UK)

11.10 - 11.30
History Re-experienced Implementing Mixed Reality Systems Into Historic House Museums
Shadrick Addy (The Ohio State University, USA)

11.30 - 11.50
Augmented Reality in Interactive Storytelling: Hamlet's Breed
Dietmar Godina (independent creator, Austria)

11.50 - 12.10
DISCUSSION

12.10 - 13.10
LUNCH BREAK

2nd Session
INTERACTIVE DIGITAL STORYTELLING IN MUSEUMS AND HERITAGE SITES
Chair: Petr Salaba

13.10 - 13.30
Immersive exhibitions and game design as a tool for storytelling in museums
Fredrik Trella, Gabriella Di Feola, Erik Einebrant (Research Institute of Sweden (RISE)

13.30 - 13.50
VR/AR system facilitating artifact discovery and meaning-making
Joseph Chambers (The Ohio State University, USA)

13.50 - 14.10
No Story Without a Backstory. The role and importance of the backstory in an augmented reality application for cultural heritage. (Scan4Stories project)
Fauve Vanoverschelde (Howest University of Applied Sciences, Belgium)

14.10 - 14.30
Methodology for designing Augmented Reality (AR) interactive experiences in cultural heritage sites
Mariza Dima (Brunel University London, UK)

14.30 - 14.50
WalkAR at Népsziget. Designing an AR app and Pursuing Alternate Facts
Dóra Ferenczy (Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design, Hungary)

14.50 - 15.00
DISCUSSION

15.00 - 15.20
COFFEE BREAK

3rd Session
INTERACTIVE CINEMA
Chair: Kata Szita

15.20 - 15.40
Evaluating the Impact of Interactive Cinema in Audiovisual Literacy and Education: an Eye-Tracking Study
Giorgos Dimitriadis & Katerina Gouleti & Michalis Kokonis (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece)

15.40 - 16.00
A Walkthrough Movie: Intermediality and Interactivity in Black Mirror: Bandersnatch
Mihály Lakatos (Sapientia University, Romania)

16.20 - 16.40
Narrative Puzzle in a Post-industrial City
Teodora Ungureanu & Maria Mandea (Ion Mincu University of Architecture and Urbanism, National University of Arts in Bucharest, Romania)

16.40 - 17.00
Designing Quests in a Questless World
Petr Salaba (FAMU, Prague, Czech Republic)

17.00 - 17.10
DISCUSSION

17.10 - 18.00
COFFEE BREAK

18.00 - 19.00
KEYNOTE SPEECH
Rebecca Rouse (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, USA)

19.00 - 20.00
WINE SESSION

DAY 2 – Monday, 11th November

4th Session
PERSONAL IMMERSION VIA THEATRE
Chair: James Simpson

9.30 - 9.50
The Justice Syndicate: A case study in using interactive technologies and procedural design to encourage Flow and increase the intensity of interaction in participatory and immersive theatre
Dan Barnard (London South Bank University, UK)

9.50 - 10.10
Immersive Perspectivalism: Theatre in the Information Age
Joseph Dunne-Howrie (City, University of London, UK)

10.10 - 10.30
Avatar’s Journey - Immersive experience design framework based on participant-protagonist integration
Eero Tiainen (Aalto University, Finland)

10.30 - 10.50
Journey to the Beginnings – Edutainment by using VR technologies within a Participatory Theatre Adventure Game
Czakó Máté (independent creator, Hungary)

10.50 - 11.00
DISCUSSION

11.00 - 11.15
COFFEE BREAK

5th Session
“WAYS OF GETTING IMMERSED”
Chair: Dr. Joseph Dunne-Howrie

11.15 - 11.35
Dissenting Narratives: Sharing the UnderStory
Madison Sabatelli & Noor Murteza (The Ohio State University, USA)

11.35 - 11.55
Various Ways of Knowing: Perspectives on Human Sensory Discernment in Visually Restrictive Immersive Environments
Adrienn Lestyán (Erasmus Mundus Excellence, Hungary)

11.55 - 12.15
Translating Immersion in Remediated Theme Park Rides
Péter Kristóf Makai (Linnaeus University, Sweden)

12.15 - 12.25
DISCUSSION

12.25 - 13.30
LUNCH BREAK

6th Session
VIRTUAL MEETS REALITY?
Chair: Richárd Fejes

13.30 - 13.50
Mixed reality performances as interlinear showcases
Otilia Armean (Sapientia University of Transylvania, Romania)

13.50 - 14.10
“Physical narrative” as a Lesson for VR experiences. On “Turnton Docklands” and “Mother/Home/Heaven”.
Agnieszka Przybyszewska (University of Lodz, Poland)

14.10 - 14.30
Designing for Audience Experience - From Relational Performance to 360° Interactive Video
Scott Palmer (University of Leeds, UK)

14.30 - 14.50
Connect/Archive/Interact
Mario Simon (Academy for Theatre and Digitality, Germany)

14.50 - 15.10
Designing World Interactivity: Beyond the Neural Horizon, a Nordic Live-Action Roleplaying Game
Silva Kuusniemi (independent scholar, Finland)

15.10 - 15.15
DISCUSSION

15.15 - 15.30
COFFEE BREAK

7th Session
TRANSMEDIA AND MULTISENSORY
Chair: Makai Péter Kristóf

15.30 - 15.50
Mobile Virtual-Reality Platforms and Post-Cinematic Storytelling
Kata Szita (University of Gothenburg, Sweden)

15.50 - 16.10
A? R? G? - Narratological and Procedural Aspects of Alternate Reality Games
Richard Fejes (ELTE University, Hungary)

16.10 - 16.30
Multisensory Design in Interactive Narrative
Dr. Toby Heys & David Jackson & Marsha Courneya (Manchester Metropolitan University, UK)

16.30 - 16.40
DISCUSSION

16.40 - 16.50
COFFEE BREAK

8th Session
CASE STUDIES
Chair: Ágnes Karolina Bakk

16.50 - 17.20
Summer Scriptwriting Base: An Immersive Learning Experience
Dimitar Uzunov (Arte Urbana Collectif, Bulgaria)

17.20 - 17.50
Theatre, Game Design and Societal Choices
Georg Hobmeier (independent creators, Austria)

17.50 - 18.20
Co-working with Artists/Designers and Software Developers
András Szabó (Code and Soda and Random Error Studio)

18.20 - 19.00
COFFEE BREAK / NETWORKING SESSION

19.00 - 20.00
KEYNOTE SPEECH
Pola Borkiewicz (Lodz Film School, Poland)

DAY 3 – Tuesday, 12th November

9th Session
GUIDANCE WITH VR
Chair: Mariza Dima

9.30 - 9.50
Beyond Virtual Scenography
Rebekka Bohse Meyer (independent creator, Denmark)

9.50 - 10.10
XR Worldbuilding and the Affective Potential of Virtual Reality Experiences
Nick Higgins (University of the West of Scotland, UK)

10.10 - 10.30
Immersive Memory Spaces: Interactive Narratives of Trauma and Mental Disorder Through VR
Monika Górska-Olesińska (University of Łódź, Poland)

10.30 - 10.50
“Virtual reality experiences as intimate performance”
Dr. Harry Robert Wilson (independent creator, UK)

10.50 - 11.00
DISCUSSION

11.00 - 11.10
COFFEE BREAK

10th Session
PERCEIVING THE VIRTUAL
Chair: Roger McKinley

11.10 - 11.30
The Role of Storytelling as User Involvement in VR Documentaries
Dr. Florian Mundhenke (University of Leipzig, Germany)

11.30 - 11.50
Ludonarrative Meaning-Making
Christian Roth (University of the Arts, Utrecht (HKU), Netherlands)

11.50 - 12.10
Normalising experiences in a digital immersive environment; the importance of on-boarding users to visual interfaces and controls
James Simpson & Zoë O’Shea (Goldsmiths University of London, Rose Bruford College and Royal Shakespeare Company/Magic Leap, UK)

12.10 - 12.30
Continuous adaptation of artificial agents in complex dynamic environments
Robert B. Lisek, PhD & Karolína Kotnour (Faculty of Architecture CTU Prague, Czech Republic - Poland)

12.30 - 12.50
DISCUSSION

12.50 - 14.15
LUNCH BREAK

11th Session
ARTISTIC CASE STUDIES
Chair: Dimitar Uzunov

14.15 - 14.35
Whichcraft - interactive VR installation
Botond Tobai & Adrienn Pintér (Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design, Hungary)

14.35 - 14.55
Suprematist VR space
Rita Vándor (Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design, Hungary)

14.55 - 15.15
Virtual surrealism and site specific VR
Linnea Bågander & Joakim Envik Karlsson & Nicole Neidert (University of Borås, Sweden)

15.15 - 15.25
DISCUSSION

15.25 - 15.40
COFFEE BREAK

12th Session
DIVINATION AND DIGITAL NARRATIVES
Chair: Ágnes Karolina Bakk

15.40 - 16.00
Act, Gesture, and Space: Calvino’s Invasive Hand in the Tarot
Cécile Guédon (University of California, Los Angeles, USA)

16.00 - 16.20
Indigenous Technologies and Spatial Divination in Cecilia Vicuña
Kythe Heller (Harvard University, USA)

16.20 - 16.40
Computational Poetics: Artificial Intelligence and Indie Tarot
Emilie Hardman (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA)

16.40 - 17.00
CLOSING REMARKS

17.00 - 18.00
COFFEE BREAK

18.00 - 19.00
KEYNOTE SPEECH
Mathieu Triclot (Université de Technologie de Belfort-Montbéliard, FR)

20.00 -     
GOODBYE DRINKS

CALL FOR PAPER

New digital tools provide novel opportunities for interactive digital narratives (IDN) in mixed reality environments, performance art and analogue immersive spaces. But does this mean that we can tell existing stories in a better way in these environments? Or should we change our way of thinking about how we perceive our world in order to create more comprehensive narrative experiences? In a recent keynote (ICIDS 2018 conference) Janet H. Murray – author of the groundbreaking volume Hamlet on Holodeck – the Future of Narrative in Cyberspace (1997/2016), reminds us that “a kaleidoscopic habit of thinking” can help us “envision a more integrated transformational future” and “open up the possibility of expanding our understanding of the world and our cognitive capacity” (Murray, 2018:17). To better grasp the complexity of the world, it is important to enhance emerging artistic practices in order to create opportunities for critical reflection while acknowledging the changed relationship between creators and audiences turned participants/prosumers/experiencers.

This conference aims to investigate whether XR/extended reality (VR/AR/MR) works will acquire a status comparable to film, performing arts and video games in the near future. On this basis, we are looking forward to papers that address narrative experiences enabled by XR and especially VR technologies. Papers should address either one or several of the following questions:

What kind of narratives can be used to create possibility spaces in such immersive productions?

How much engagement with and control over the narrative path is desirable for the audience turned participants?

What design strategies can guide these participatory experiences: for example, live performers, orchestrators, and set designers using the sensorium of New Horror (see Ndalianis, 2012) or somaesthetic design concepts (see Höök, 2018) to create novel forms of immersion in these environments?

What kind of design strategies can we use to provide a satisfying level of agency to participant audiences and provide opportunities for co-creation?

What is the current status of interactive digital narrative experiences, have they completed their evolution from being media of attraction (see Rouse, 2016) or there is still a long way for them to go in order to find the right direction?

What can we learn from a comparison of site-specific live arts productions with those of VR projects?

How can we explore free-form play and rule-based gaming as different types of performances within mixed-reality theatre and immersive theatre?

In addition, we want to challenge established storytelling strategies and instead more thoroughly analyze ways of creating engaging experiences:

What kind of principles of video game design do XR productions make use of (e.g. puzzle dependency charts and plot-shaped level design - see Short, 2019)?

What design strategies createed the experience of full immersivity and presence for their users-turned-participants (see 2018/4 issue of the journal of Performance Arts and Digital Media).

Further developing Murray’s perspective on the ‘kaleidoscopic habit’, we expect presentations that engage with the practice of transdisciplinary creators to adapt video game mechanics, various sensorium settings and interactive narrative design strategies in order to create fully immersive environments. Possible analyzes can be on topics such as overall aesthetics authorial affordances, design principles and conventions (Koenitz et al, 2018) as well as the audience’s experience (especially engagement and empowering mechanisms) and, last but not least, as interactive narratives. Some possible perspectives include Murray’s affordances and aesthetic qualities of the digital medium, Bogost’s procedural rhetoric, Kwastek’s “aesthetics of interactivity”, somaesthetic design concepts (Höök), guiding strategies based on New Horror’s sensorium (Ndalianis, 2012) the trajectories offered by them (based on Benford-Giannachi’s concept) and interactive narrative systems (Koenitz, 2015).

For Whom

The conference addresses scientific researchers, game professionals, programmers, artists, scholars and professionals from the field of performing arts, game studies, interactive storytellers, experience designers, narrative designers, VR-professionals and philosophers concerned with the conference topics. The conference aims to bring together emerging scholars, professionals and creators in order to create a joint platform which would later help individuals to understand and to develop these types of productions.

Regional relevance

Besides the lack of financial sources especially in Central Eastern Europe, the artists who are willing to use new technology tools in a coherent manner can’t find partners from the region as there is no platform for them. The conference will bring together artists & researchers based in the region forum and we plan to form pilot projects amongst the participants and create new regional collaborations. We also want to create a regional lobby in cultural policy for this type of performance art. The Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design Budapest can offer a lively context for a conference that gathers professionals from different fields and will further enrich the event’s program by presenting researchers from the university’s curriculum.

Conference themes

Interactive storytelling methods
Interactive videos
Video games
Location-based technology (with augmented reality)
Virtual reality experiences&movies
Augmented reality in interactive storytelling
Games-based performing arts practices using new technology tools
Interactive Museum
Immersive environments (media archeology and phenomenological approach)
Transmedia storytelling

Proposals may be for a paper or a panel and should be related to at least one of the conference themes. 

Deadline for submitting the proposals is June 17, 2019. 

Please send us your abstract (max 350 words) and a short bio (max. 300 words) to the address: zipscene@mome.hu and please in CC: bakk@mome.hu. The papers will be reviewed by the conference committee. If your proposal will be accepted you will be given 20 minutes for your presentation.

Registration fee: EUR 50

The organizers cannot cover travel, accommodation and lodging costs. Upon request we can provide you invitation letter.

If you have any further question, don't hesitate to write us: bakk@mome.hu

Organised by:
Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design Budapest,
zip-scene.com

Supported by:
International Visegrad Fund 
Nemzeti Kulturális Alap/National Cultural Fund (NKA) 
Wacław Felczak Foundation

Strategic partner:
ARDIN/ ICIDS (Association for Research into Digital Interactive Narratives) (NL)
code and soda/Random Error Studio (https://randomerror.studio) (HU)
Sapientia EMTE, Kolozsvár / Department of Film, Photography and Media (RO)
Verzio International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival (www.verzio.org)

Partners:
Causa Creations (AU)
CINETic/UNATC (RO)
Institute of Documentary Film (CZ)
Digital Stories Lab /Total Immersion Foundation (PL)
VUNU (SK)

Consultant on behalf of ARDIN:
Hartmut Koenitz

Design: Csenge Katinka

References:

Benford S.& Giannachi, G. Performing Mixed Reality. 2011, MIT Press, Massachusetts

Bogost, I. (2007). Persuasive Games: The Expressive Power of Videogames. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.Höök, K. (2018). Designing with the Body. Cambridge MA, MIT Press

Koenitz, H. (2015). Towards a Specific Theory of Interactive Digital Narrative. In H. Koenitz, G. Ferri, M. Haahr, D. Sezen, & T. I. Sezen (Eds.), Interactive Digital Narrative (pp. 91–105). New York: Routledge.

Koenitz, H., Roth, C., Dubbelman, T., & Knoller, N. (2018). Interactive Narrative Design beyond the Secret Art Status: A Method to Verify Design Conventions for Interactive Narrative. Materialities of Literature, 6(1), 107–119.

Kwastek, K. (2013) Aesthetic of Interaction in Digital Art, MIT Press, Cambridge-London

Murray, J. Research into Interactive Digital Narrative: A Kaleidoscopic View. In: Rouse R., Koenitz H., Haahr M. (eds) Interactive Storytelling. ICIDS 2017. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol. 11318. Springer, Cham, 2018. 17

Murray, J. (1998/2016 (new edition)). Hamlet on the Holodeck: The Future of Narrative in Cyberspace. Cambridge: The MIT Press.

Ndalianis, A. (2012). The Horror Sensorium. Media and the Senses. Jefferson, McFarland&Company

Rouse, R. (2016). Media of attraction: a media archeology approach to panoramas, kinematography, mixed reality and beyond. In: Nack, F., Gordon, A.S. (eds.) ICIDS 2016. LNCS, vol. 10045, Springer, Cham, 97–107.

Short, E. (2019) Mailbag: Self-Training in Narrative Design. https://emshort.blog/2019/01/08/mailbag-self-training-in-narrative-design/?fbclid=IwAR2PgubIPnP69Pw-1UyBkBqlyh1_D2SxfGmDtnIiuk1rDITSQEAnVmiE9Js. Accessed 19 April 2019.