For my Master Media Innovation graduation project I developed an adaptive storytelling framework for use in theme- and amusement parks. Based on data such as ride queue times, guest data and guest group composition, the framework, called Tale Machine, assembles a story. The story is then told through the guest’s mobile devices and park elements such as animatronics and scenery elements. By incorporating the guest’s physical surroundings, an additional layer of storytelling can be added to existing park assets whilst also creating guest entertainment capacity in non-ride areas. The aim of developing Tale Machine was to create a system that would provide theme- and amusement parks and their guests with various benefits. These benefits include better visitor spread, more opportunities for commerce, queue entertainment and utilizing existing park assets to create new experiences.
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How different technologies interact within TaleMachine
Alongside the development of Tale Machine, I conducted a research study to investigate whether personalized storytelling, within the scope of theme- and amusement parks, could yield greater narrative immersion. In the study, I set up an adaptive personalized storytelling experiment, which was then conducted with 130 participants. The outcomes of the experiment yielded new insights that were then incorporated into Tale Machine.
To showcase the Tale Machine prototype, I made a clickable prototype through which people could simulate the experience of interacting with a Tale Machine implementation. Some screengrabs from this prototype can be seen here.
For the prototype, I created the fictitious Starvalley Park.