This paper presents a paradigm, called ShapeShifting TV, for the realisation of interactive TV narratives or, more generally, of interactive screen-media narratives. These are productions whose narrations respond on the fly (i.e. in real time) to interaction from active viewers. ShapeShifting TV refers to productions made mainly with prerecorded time-based material, in which variation is achieved by selecting and rearranging atomic elements of content (e.g. video clips) into individual narrations. The aimed quality of the productions (e.g. narrative continuity and aesthetics) is at least that of good traditional linear TV programmes.The artefact which determines the way individual stories unfold, called the narrative space, is authored and tested by experts before the delivery of the programme. However, the adaptation of narrations to input, at delivery time, is automatic. ShapeShifting TV is a generic paradigm; it is neither production nor genre specific. Furthermore, it is not confined to television; it is about screen media in general. ShapeShifting TV is founded on a computational language called Narrative Structure Language (NSL) and is accompanied by a comprehensive software system for authoring and delivery (which implements NSL). These were successfully employed to the creation of a number of ShapeShifting TV productions, which extended genres such as drama, documentary and news with interactivity. This paper defines the ShapeShifting TV paradigm, outlines NSL and the associated software, and presents two ShapeShifting TV productions.
Inhabited Television" combines multiuser virtual environments with television, so that online audience-members can participate in TV shows staged in a virtual world. It is presented simultaneously both to conventional passive viewers and to online participants. In many cases it benefits from being broadcast live. This paper is based on our fourth major experiment with Inhabited TV, a live virtual game show called "Out Of This World". For this event we adopted non-automated approaches to camera control and mixing to allow an exploration of appropriate forms of presentation for inhabited television. We describe the techniques which were used to create and enhance the live video output which was produced during the show: appropriate world design; dynamic constraints on participant movements; and a performance-oriented virtual camera control interface. This camera control interface includes explicit support for a range of spatial and temporal control styles. We also give evaluative feedback on the camera control interface and the event's (television-based) approach to mixing and directing, drawing on a social scientific field study conducted on-site during the preparation for, and performances of, the show.
Inhabited TV combines collaborative virtual environments (CVEs) with broadcast TV so that on-line audiences can participate in TV shows within shared virtual worlds. Three early experiments with inhabited TV raised fundamental questions concerning the extent to which it is possible to establish fast-pace social interaction within a CVE and produce a coherent and engaging broadcast of this action. This paper presents a fourth more recent experiment, Out of This World that directly addressed these questions. We describe how the formulation of inhabited TV design principles, combined with the use of dedicated production software, for constraining and directing participants' actions and for controlling virtual cameras, enabled us to create a fastmoving and coherent show. We conclude that our experiments to date demonstrate the technical feasibility of inhabited TV, but that greater attention needs to be paid to developing appropriate formats and content for this new medium before it becomes truly engaging. We also suggest that our real time production and camera software may be useful in other areas of CSCW.
Inhabited television combines collaborative virtual environments (CVEs) with broadcast television so that on-line audiences can participate in television shows within shared virtual worlds. We describe a series of experiments with inhabited television, beginning with the NOWninety6 poetry performance, The Mirror, and Heaven & Hell-Live. These early experiments raised fundamental questions for inhabited television concerning the extent to which it is possible to establish fast-paced social interaction within a CVE, and to which it is possible to produce a coherent and engaging broadcast of this action. We then present a fourth more recent experiment, Out of This World, that directly addressed these questions. We describe how the formulation of inhabited television design principles, combined with the use of dedicated production software for scripting and directing a show and for controlling virtual cameras, enabled us to create a fast-moving and more coherent experience. INTRODUCTIONWe introduce the idea of inhabited television, the combination of collaborative virtual environments (CVEs) and broadcast television to create a new medium for entertainment and social communication. The defining feature of this medium is that an on-line audience can socially participate in a show that is staged within a shared virtual world. The producer defines a framework, but it is the audience interaction and participation that brings it to life. A broadcast stream is then mixed from the action within the virtual world and transmitted to a conventional viewing audience, either as a live event or sometime later as edited highlights.Inhabited television extends traditional broadcast television and more recent interactive television by enabling social interaction among participants and by offering them new forms of control over narrative structure (e.g., navigation within a virtual world) and greater interaction with content (e.g., direct manipulation of props and sets). Inhabited television also builds on recent research into CVEs as social environments, such as experiences with Internet-based virtual worlds [Damer 1997]. In particular, inhabited television demands a more explicit focus on issues of production, management, format, and participation arising from the staging of on-line events within virtual worlds.We shall see below that inhabited television raises two general issues for HCI and CSCW. First is the idea of coordinating and scripting fast-paced real-time collaboration over computer networks. Second, is the requirement to design interaction within a virtual world so that it makes sense to (and is entertaining for) a third party, the viewer, who sees it via one or more virtual cameras.Our argument unfolds in two parts. First, we summarize three early experiments with inhabited television: NOWninety6, a public poetry performance using a CVE; The Mirror, a series of on-line virtual worlds that ran in parallel with a conventional television series; and Heaven & Hell-Live, a live television broadcast from within a CVE. These ...
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