Wk 5, Q1. Difference between hypertext and interactive fiction

Q1. Difference between hypertext and interactive fiction

The opportunity for readers to contribute text to the narrative in interactive fiction might be seen as a somewhat superficial distinction from hypertext because most times, these contributions do not really affect the revelation of the narrative although it does provide the possibility for a differentiated user experience. When one contributes a command that cannot be processed within the limits of the system, the system restricts the progression of the reader until a recognizable input is entered. Thus, the interactive fiction would probably qualify as a more complex version of the hypertext in terms of the possible options that it provides. If one were to think of both forms as a network consisting of nodes which represent the opportunities to make a choice, nodes in the interactive fiction would appear as having more possible options as compared to the hypertext. In that sense, the author of an interactive fiction might thus have to generate more possible narratives to provide the user with this sense of control over the unfolding of the narrative. Basically, I would see both forms as similar forms of narratives revealed in a non-linear fashion which differ in terms of perception of control on the part of the reader and complexity structure. In saying so, I am not suggesting that one form is greater than the other in the two aspects because these variables can be adjusted according to the intentions of the author and hypertexts may be designed to present greater control to the reader and complexity of structure in the narrative than a piece of interactive fiction. 

Q2. Is "Carl" a cybertext?

What I interpret of Arrseth’s interpretation of a ‘non-trivial effort to traverse the text’ would be that of a risk-taking endeavour on the part of the reader. This effort would entail taking risks on the part of the reader that he or she might be rejected in the process of imposing their own interpretation on the text. In McCloud’s ‘Carl’ comic strip, the possibilities are planned out in advance by the author and in traversing this multicursal labyrinth, there is no risk involved in the part of the reader because every path that the reader chooses to take is straightforward and coherent and the reader should expect no obstruction except when they come to the end of the narrative. In fact, the metaphor of a labyrinth might not be that fitting a description for the structure of the ‘Carl’ comics because it entails unexpected twists and turns shrouded in an air of enigma while the arms of each variation of the comic seem more linear in nature. Perhaps a more fitting metaphor would be that of a map of a mass transit system.

Q3. Is 'The Tree Theatre' interactive media?

By Crawford’s strict definition, “The Tree Theatre” cannot be considered as a form of interactive media because at the point of interaction, there could be no thought process going on in the minds of the audience as they view the presentation. At the point where the audience makes a choice, one might just act according to one’s whims and fancies and not consider the plot that has unfolded thus far since both possibilities are equally plausible. Also, on the part of the performers, the thought process that they go through might simply be that of recalling the actual sequence of events. I personally feel that a thought process should not merely be a memory process but more of a reflection on the input from the audience and then giving it a good think through before coming up with an appropriate response to the input (but one can generally argue that the actors, based on the selection by the audience, might be able to gauge the preferences of the audience and modify their execution of the scenes such that it panders to their liking).

In short, “The Tree Theatre” might simply be a slightly more complex form of Crawford’s fridge, but then, one should always question if there is a need to employ such a strict definition in deciding what constitutes interactive media. Personally, I feel that “The Tree Theatre” can be considered a form of interactive media because it surpasses the level of interactivity that can be expected of conventional theatrical forms which do not involve audiences as much in their performances.

Wk 4, Q1: Impact of hypertext on the world

Reporting live from Changi Airport Terminal 2 Arrival Hall, in the thick of the action at the IMF-World Bank Boards of Governors Meeting, we reflect on the impact that hypertexts have had on the world.

Briefly speaking, there's probably more of a penchant towards instant gratification probably due to the fact that at the click of a mouse we are brought to a whole new chunk of text. Gone are the days when one takes joy in spending time in the library looking through the catalogue to locate books that would interest one and then proceed to the storage location to be greeted with the satisfaction of finding the book of one's desire. Nowadays, I find myself researching solely based on the internet and oftentimes when I can't find a reference in an electronic format, I would probably ignore it unless it is entirely essential to my research. This might also have had an effect on the times people choose to work in a way that since the information is available online 24 hours a day, people might tend to gravitate towards working later into the nights, but this would probably be seen as more of an impact of the internet than the hypertext.

In another sense, people are probably less focused in their thought processes since they impulsively jump from one section to another as and when they see a link that interests them. It might also have an impact on the writer's part in organizing their thoughts since hypertext allows for greater segregation amongst the individual components of the text. They might thus spend less time trying to write in a continuous, coherent sense. This might be reflected in a greater focus on individuality in the society since hypertext places such a great emphasis on personal choice and how the use of hypertexts emphasise the importance of individual elements rather than the composition of the whole.

This loss of emphasis in organization can be seen in the concept of searching for your mail espoused by Gmail whereby people are no longer encouraged to organize their mail in folders according to the origins of the mail. In a way, the search bar in Gmail might be seen as one master hypertext which will link one to any mails which contain the keywords that the user types in.

Wk 3, Q2: Pictures in Sequence

I tried to look links in random images by typing "one" in Google's image search and this is what I got:








Was hoping I'd get to ten but six was the furthest I could get, so there!

Wk 3, Q3: Writing about what we chose

I have not personally viewed the chosen narrative (The Others) but the idea is that the viewers are presented with 2 perspectives of the same story (one from the ghosts and the other from the characters living in the house) but they do not know that this is the case and imagine it to be 2 separate situations. It is only at the end of the show during a particular scene (a ‘Super Kernel’) that the 2 different perspectives start to make sense. This provides potential for 2 tracks along which the interactive medium can progress and has great potential for a non-linear approach towards the revelation of the story.

The idea for the interactive narrative will be a mixture of still pictures, video clips worked in with sounds and music from the original movie weaved into a narrative framework that attempts to depict the 2 varying perspectives but with intermittent kernels that will provide a sense that there is the possibility of the existence of an alternative perspective. This will be done in hope that the viewer will be able to find coherence in the journey that they will take. Visually, it will take the metaphor of a frame leading to another frame whereby to move on to another sequence, the viewer will have to click on a frame i.e. they eyes of a character, a frame in a picture, door frame etc. This metaphor will hopefully re-create the sense of complexity of plot in the original movie and make it a more interesting journey for the viewer.

Wk 3, Q1: Reader/Author gets new role

The reader of now has to play a more active role and takes on some of the responsibilities of the author. There is also greater room for customizing of the experience and so it might provide for a greater variability of experience. It might also encourage the reader to do more than one exploration of the same narrative to go through different versions of the experience. This is in contrast to the traditional role of a passive viewer that takes in only one perspective of the author and where everyone more or less goes through experience.

The role of the author changes from one where the aim is to present a single perspective to that of one where the author needs to think of multiple possibilities and at the same time linking them together such that there is coherence and the reader will find that it is a well-formed narrative. This would mean that the author has to be able to design the structure of the interaction in such a way that constraints will ensure that the reader will only go through the media in a way that is meaningful to the reader. Instead of being an architect of a single road, the author will have to assume the role of an architect for a whole network of roads, ensuring that traffic flows in a smooth fashion.