It's a wonderful thing to be carried away in a story, but will
you as the reader soon be able to determine how the story unfolds?
With the Virtual Storyteller, developed by Ivo Swartjes at the
Centre for Telematics and Information Technology (CTIT) of the
University of Twente, the reader will soon be able to take an
active role. What he or she does determines how the story
progresses. The key to making this possible is to devise
intelligent software, so that the 'storyteller' is also prepared
for unexpected situations. Swartjes obtained his PhD from the
Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer
Science.
The 'Virtual Storyteller', developed by Ivo Swartjes of the
University of Twente, is a computer-controlled system that
generates stories automatically. Soon it will be possible for you
as a player to take on the role of a character and 'step inside'
the story, which then unfolds on the basis of what you as a player
do. In the gaming world there are already 'branching storylines' in
which the gamer can influence the development of a story, but
Swartjes' new system goes a step further. The world of the story is
populated with various virtual figures, each with their own
emotions, plans and goals. 'Rules' drawn up in advance determine
the characters' behaviour, and the story comes about as the
different characters interact. In developing the 'Virtual
Storyteller', Swartjes began by investigating whether people
enjoyed playing a part in this type of story, before going on to
research the conditions and rules for the software.
Improvised theatre
The PhD student drew inspiration from improvised theatre to find
out whether people enjoyed playing in an improvised story. Using a
specially developed chat programme, he created a fictional world
inhabited by two improvising actors and a test subject. The subject
knew nothing in advance of what would happen, while the actors only
knew that a story had to be created. These experiments showed that
the test subjects very much enjoyed participating in the story.
They especially liked the collaboration, and taking decisions on
the spot.
Writer
How can you then translate this way of working into rules that
determine the behaviour of the characters, so that 'natural'
interaction is generated and with it a story is created? The
'Virtual Storyteller' can work with a number of scenarios, but
there will still always be surprise events. To take account of
these unpredictable scenes, the developers have to constantly seek
out additional rules of behaviour. The author therefore does not
write the stories, but devises the rules that determine what
happens within them.
From games to bringing bad news
Virtual storytellers can make computer games even more advanced:
the gamer has even more influence on how the game progresses than
is now the case. But Swartjes also sees applications outside of the
entertainment industry. The technology could also be used in
management training, for example, or in rehearsing difficult
situations such as bringing bad news. Swartjes expects that in five
years time the new concept will be applied in a wide range of
situations.
Note for the press
Ivo Swartjes obtained his PhD on 19 May from the Faculty
of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science. He
carried out his research in the Human Media Interaction research
group and the Centre for Telematics and Information Technology
(CTIT). His tutors were Prof. Anton Nijholt and Dr Mariët Theune.
His thesis 'Whose Story is it Anyway? How Improv Informs Agency and
Authorship of Emergent Narrative' is available in digital form on
request.
