Styles of play in immersive and interactive story: case studies from a gallery installation of AR Façade

ABSTRACT

In this paper, we offer an empirical investigation of AR Façade, an Immersive and Interactive Story where players interact with an animated married couple through an augmented reality (AR) interface that allows for unconstrained body movement and speech communication. We conducted a "mixed-method" in-depth analysis of thirty-three players during a gallery installation of the experience and identified five emergent "styles of play". We present qualitative case studies to illustrate the diverse behavior of participants and then we analyze quantitative differences that can lead to improved player modeling. Like prior work on play types in other media environments, our work elucidates the range of behaviors that can emerge in immersive and interactive stories.

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INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  H. Information Systems
  H.5 INFORMATION INTERFACES AND PRESENTATION (I.7)
      H.5.1 Multimedia Information Systems
          Subjects: Artificial, augmented, and virtual realities

General Terms:
Design, Experimentation, Human Factors, Theory

Keywords:
augmented reality, empirical evaluation, games, immersive entertainment, interactive drama, mixed methods, play, player descriptions, player modeling, real-world gallery deployment