RIDERS: Research In Interactive Drama Environments, Role-Play and Story-telling

交互式图形环境、移动平台、增强现实和普及环境的发展为创作互动戏剧、角色扮演和讲故事提供了新的技术资源，无论是用于娱乐、教育、治疗还是艺术。但是，这些新媒体的科学和理论基础是什么？如何才能调和用户在这样的环境中期望的自由交互与作者想要预先设计的令人满意的叙事结构？研究人员一直试图在一系列往往完全不同的学科中回答这些问题：计算机科学和人工智能(例如规划、人机交互、情感计算、数字游戏)；人文学科(例如叙事学、数字媒体研究)；艺术(例如互动装置、互动戏剧)；心理学(例如用户参与、自动传记记忆)。在工业上，电脑游戏公司也在努力寻找务实和可行的解决方案，以吸引更多的游戏玩家，并转向比射击坏人的紧张和刺激更复杂的情感参与。这一网络将把涉及的许多不同学科的研究人员聚集在一起，以打破他们之间目前的障碍，减少分散，并在技术开发、理论分析和实践者应用之间产生协同效应。它将接触到正在以相当大的经济规模生产新体验和手工艺品的创意产业，以及相关领域的从业人员，如现场和基于董事会的角色扮演。因此，它与EPSRC数字经济方案的目标一致。

The development of interactive graphical environments, mobile platforms, augmented reality and pervasive environments offers new technology resources for the creation of interactive drama, role-play and story-telling whether for entertainment, education, therapy or art. But what is the scientific and theoretical basis for these new media? How is it possible to reconcile the free interaction users expect in such environments with the satisfying narrative structures authors would like to design up front? Researchers have been trying to answer these questions in a range of often disparate disciplines: Computer Science and AI (e.g. planning, HCI, affective computing, digital gaming); Humanities (e.g narratology, digital media studies); Arts (e.g interactive installations, interactive drama); and Psychology (e.g user engagement, auto-biographical memory). Industrially, computer games companies have tried to find pragmatic and implementable solutions too in order to attract a wider range of gamers and move to more complex emotional engagement than the tension and adrenaline of shooting baddies. This network will bring together researchers in the many different disciplines involved so as to breach the current barriers between them, reduce fragmentation and create a synergy between technology development, theoretical analysis and practitioner applications. It will reach out to the creative industries in which new experiences and artefacts are being produced on a significant economic scale and to practitioners in relevant areas such as live and board-based role-play. It thus aligns with the objectives of the EPSRC Digital Economy programme.