If virtual worlds are to fulfil their promise as stages for
entertainment, education and artistic endeavour, with who or what shall
we people them? And what methods are available to us to design the
dramatic elements of these worlds? Both drama and virtual realities are
multi-modal experiences. By drawing on crossover research between the
disciplines of theatre, HCI and system design, we put forward an
innovative basic framework for the design of virtual worlds an
envisionment. This paper will examine the nature of interactive
experience in relation to user viewpoint and identity, and will develop a
frame of reference for the structure and composition of virtual worlds in
dramatic terms: location and environment, content, actions, time-scale,
events, metaphysical structures and characters. We shall draw attention
to the significance of constraints and potentials to envisionment and to
techniques drawn from object-oriented analysis and design to model them.
We hope that this paper will stimulate a discussion of the issues raised
and future directions for research.
Keywords: Virtual Reality, Virtual Worlds, Drama, Human-Computer-Interaction, System Design
In: Singh G., Feiner S.K. & Thalmann D. 1994
Virtual Reality Software & Technology: Proceedings of VRST '94
Conference
(Singapore, August 1994)
Pub. World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., Singapore pp 251-265
ISBN 981-02-1867-2
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