PhD Thesis - Informatics Department - Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio) Author: Edirlei Everson Soares de Lima <elima@inf.puc-rio.br> Advisor: Bruno Feijo <bfeijo@puc-rio.br>
Abstract:
The generation of engaging visual representations for interactive storytelling represents a key challenge for the evolution and popularization of interactive narratives. Usually, interactive storytelling systems adopt computer graphics to represent the virtual story worlds, which facilitates the dynamic generation of visual content. Although animation is a powerful storytelling medium, live-action films still attract more attention from the general public. In addition, despite the recent progress in graphics rendering and the wide-scale acceptance of 3D animation in films, the visual quality of video is still far superior to that of real-time generated computer graphics. In the present thesis, we propose a new approach to create more engaging interactive narratives, denominated "Video-Based Interactive Storytelling", where characters and virtual environments are replaced by real actors and settings, without losing the logical structure of the narrative. This work presents a general model for interactive storytelling systems that are based on video, including the authorial aspects of the production phases, and the technical aspects of the algorithms responsible for the real-time generation of interactive narratives using video compositing techniques.
Full-text:
Lima, E.S., 2014. Video-Based Interactive Storytelling. PhD Thesis, Informatics Department, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio). Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, August, 2014.
Related Publications:
Lima, E.S., Feijo, B., Furtado, A.L., Pozzer, C.T., Ciarlini, A.E.M., 2012. Automatic Video Editing For Video-Based Interactive Storytelling. In: Proceedings of the 2012 IEEE International Conference on Multimedia and Expo (ICME 2012), Melbourne, Australia, July 2012. pp. 806-811. ISBN: 978-0-7685-4711-4. [DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/ICME.2012.83]
Lima, E.S., Feijo, B., Pozzer, C.T., Ciarlini, A.E.M., Barbosa, S., Furtado, A.L., Silva, F.G., 2012. Social Interaction for Interactive Storytelling. In: Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Entertainment Computing (ICEC 2012), Bremen, Germany, September 2012, pp. 1-15. ISBN: 978-3-642-33541-9. [DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-33542-6_1]
Lima, E.S., Feijo, B., Furtado, A.L., Ciarlini, A.E.M., Pozzer, C.T., Silva, F.G., 2012. A Multi-User Natural Language Interface for Interactive Storytelling in TV and Cinema. In: XI Brazilian Symposium on Computer Games and Digital Entertainment (SBGames 2012), Brasilia, Brazil, November 2012.
Lima, E.S., Feijo, B., Barbosa, S., Silva, F.G., Furtado, A.L., Pozzer, C.T., Ciarlini, A.E.M., 2011. Multimodal, Multi-User and Adaptive Interaction for Interactive Storytelling Applications. In: X Brazilian Symposium on Games and Digital Entertainment - SBGames 2011, Salvador, Brazil. [DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/SBGAMES.2011.12]
Lima, E.S., Feijo, B., Barbosa, S., Furtado, A.L., Ciarlini, A.E.M., Pozzer, C.T., 2014. Draw Your Own Story: Paper and Pencil Interactive Storytelling. Entertainment Computing, v. 4, p. 1-9. [DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.entcom.2013.06.004]
Lima, E.S., Feijo, B., Furtado, A.L., Barbosa, S.D.J., Pozzer, C.T., Ciarlini, A.E.M., 2013. Non-Branching Interactive Comics. Proceedings of the International Conference on Advances in Computer Entertainment Technology (ACE 2013), Enschede, Netherlands, November 2013. [DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-03161-3_16]
Lima, E.S., Feijo, B., Barbosa, S., Furtado, A.L., Ciarlini, A.E.M., Pozzer, C.T., 2011. Draw Your Own Story: Paper and Pencil Interactive Storytelling. In: 10th International Conference on Entertainment Computing (ICEC 2011), Vancouver, Canada. pp. 1-12. ISSN: 978-3-642-24499-5. [DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-24500-8_1]
Prototype Application:
"Modern Little Red Riding Hood" is an adaptation of the famous Little Red Riding Hood fairy tale produced to validate the proposed approach to video-based interactive storytelling. It tells a modern and comic version of the original story, with funny and unexpected outcomes. The main characters of the narrative are: the girl called Little Red Riding Hood, her mother, her grandmother, the Big Bad Wolf, and the woodcutter. The story takes place in three main locations: the Little Red Riding Hood house, the forest, and the grandmother’s house. The prototype is able to generate a considerable number of diversified stories to comply with the users desires. In the more conventional stories, the narrative evolves following the traditional fairy tale plot with the Big Bad Wolf tricking the Little Red Riding Hood and getting to her grandmother's house first, eating the grandmother and attacking Little Red Riding Hood when she finds out what happened. In stories with a more unconventional outcome, Little Red Riding Hood celebrates the death of her grandmother, and then shares her basket of goodies with the Big Bad Wolf. In stories with a more comic outcome, the Big Bad Wolf eats both Little Red Riding Hood and her grandmother, and then gets a stomach ache.
Recommended System Requirements:
- Microsoft Windows 7 or 8;
- 2.6 GHz Intel Core i7 CPU (64 bits);
- NVIDIA GTX 295 or equivalent video card;
- 8 GB of RAM memory;
- 5 GB of free hard drive space;
