Immersion in a Virtual World: Interactive Drama and Affective Sciences

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Chapter 3, Affective sciences and narrative studies:
Emotions are often regarded as an involuntary mental and bodily response to a specific object, whereas the term affect refers to a larger set of states. While actual emotions like anger and disgust are important topics of research within the affective sciences, broader concepts like differing mood states are equally relevant to this field of research. With interactive drama, as with other forms of narrative, a somewhat capable author will find it rather easy to elicit emotional response in their audience. A character acting unfairly or aggressively towards the main character can elicit an emotion of anger which is directed at this character. A detailed description of a rotten corpse usually elicits disgust, and a tragic loss elicits sadness. The common denominator of emotions is their aboutness , they are directed at a specific object. Both the user and the author understand how these emotions are elicited. On the other hand, creating a desired mood, often defined as an intrinsically objectless experience , and sustaining that mood during the whole course of the narrative is a much more demanding task. The emotional stimuli created have to be both strong and frequent enough, because otherwise the consumer of the narrative may end up experiencing mood states least intended by the author: boredom and frustration.
Considering the user s affective state is essential for creating an engaging player experience. While, as I will show, all forms of narrative aim at eliciting emotions and creating moods, which, according to the author s belief, fit the presented content, interactive drama provides an exciting new possibility: to adjust the presented content and the interaction options offered, to the user s mood. To do so, the system has to be capable to draw conclusions about the user s affective state from what they experienced so far and the way they interact with the system.
During the 20th century

Simon Mayr (born September 16, 1982) is an Austrian researcher specialised in developing interactive tools and serious games for psychotherapy. After earning his master s degree in Cognitive Science, he continued his doctoral research at the Sigmund Freud Private University Vienna, working on a serious game to support the treatment of children suffering from trauma. He is an external lecturer at the University of Vienna and the Medical University of Vienna and co-founder and head of research of ISGinnovations, a company that brings together excellent researchers and developers to accelerate progress in serious games and related fields. To find out more about his work visit www.isginnovations.com.