An approach to hypertext fiction for mobile devices

Abstract

Electronic literature has seen an explosion in popularity in recent years, due largely to the wide availability of smartphones, tablets, and dedicated e-reader devices. Somewhat surprisingly, mobile computing has been slow to embrace hypertext fiction. Yet the same qualities that make handheld devices popular for traditional linear narratives -small size, ease of use, and near ubiquity -also make them ideally suited for the distribution and consumption of hypertext narratives. In this paper, we review some existing systems for reading hypertext literature on mobile devices, and introduce Jarnaby Reader, a prototype e-reader for hypertext narratives that supports automatically generated overhead maps.