SXSWorld
Issue link: https://sxsw.uberflip.com/i/456163
3 4 S X S W o r l d | F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 5 | S X S W. C O M sk any role-playing gamer or fan fiction writer, and you will find a common wish to be involved in a story beyond just following it on the page or screen. The Choose Your Own Adventure books of many of our youth were early examples of inter- active fiction, albeit with storylines that were predetermined for the reader. More recently, franchises such as Harry Potter have evolved into multimedia endeavors, encompassing novels, movies and games. These franchises are also being integrated with emerging technology, allowing readers and viewers new ways to immerse themselves in a story. One new avenue is augmented reality (AR), in which a person's real-world expe- rience reading books or playing games is enhanced with computers and smart phones. Though this phenomenon has great promise, it is still in the early stages as a marketing, publishing and storytelling tool. In the United Kingdom, augmented reality company Zappar teamed with Pedigree Books to create titles based on Angry Birds, Sonic the Hedgehog and other franchises. The company also collabo- rated with Penguin on augmented-reality editions of literary classics like Moby Dick. Zappar CEO Casper Thykier says, "Publishing is perhaps one of the most natural and obvious places for AR to reside … However, it's certainly not the case that all books will benefit from AR. It has to be geared to the right audience and the right occasion." Back in the United States, marketing technology company Marxent Labs created an augmented-reality app that came with a collectible coin to celebrate Batman's 75th anniversary. The app includes a mini-game and allows the user to take a selfie with Batman. Beck Besecker, CEO of Marxent, says, "This is a great example of how storytelling doesn't always connect directly to books. In this case, we were asked to build an app to accompany a collectible coin. The augmented reality experience provided a marketing edge but also leveraged what is best about Batman—the story, the character, his visage." Thus far, augmented reality and other emerging technologies have been used to complement pre-existing stories and published works. A new challenge is to use technology to engage audiences at the very beginning and even involve them in the direction of the narrative. Smart phone apps such as Episode and Storyshift are the suc- cessors to the Choose Your Own Adventure books. Storyshift, in particular, offers a platform for fiction and digital comics, where instead of offering a predetermined set of story options for readers, it allows them to vote on how the story will progress from chapter to chapter. The new Endgame project, a collaboration between author James Frey and Niantic Labs, a division of Google, takes this idea further, involving multiple forms of media. Based on Frey's Endgame series of young adult novels, the new project is a sprawling, ambitious augmented reality/ role playing game patterned on Ingress, another game created by Niantic. In Endgame, players use smart phones to search for clues at various landmarks in a treasure hunt. The players' actions will also determine the plots and storylines of future titles in the Endgame series. Niantic founder Jon Hanke points out that a key difference in the Endgame project compared to other similar endeavors is that the game and related media are not just spin-offs of the novels. "These are all independent ways of, essentially, building a universe that people can inhabit and explore and yes, read a linear narrative in a book," he explains. "But at the same time, they can participate interactively in a game that's shaping the future of the book series and the world that they're within." "It was always conceived of and designed to be a story that existed over multiple forms of media," Frey says. What is the future role of augmented reality and other new technology in storytelling and publishing? Will it allow readers to immerse themselves in the narrative, or will it be a gimmick? Besecker believes that the move toward augmented reality and multimedia will be driven by toy and game companies as well as multi-platform publishers. "There is definitely a learning curve for print publishers when it comes to the multichannel experience," he says. But he also sees potential for new technology to transform the reading experience—and not just in fiction: "Think about how AR and VR [virtual reality] might apply to a textbook to add significant depth." What does this mean for the future of printed books? "Plenty of people love to read physical books," Frey says. "But I think we're going see something similar to what we saw the music business. It's just going to take a little bit longer." However, just as CD-ROMs are now becoming relics, smart phone apps will also become obsolete one day. Yet the books, characters and franchises that inspire multimedia projects such as Batman and Moby Dick have already transcended the eras in which they were created. This, as Thykier points out, shows that success will ultimately depend on the stories themselves. "All new technologies provide new ways of telling a story, but you're still starting with the same blank sheet of paper," he says. "To achieve lasting success, I believe you're best to start with a simple human truth that captivates and moves people rather than a tech solution that might wow them momentarily." James Frey and Jon Hanke will take part in the "Worlds Without Boundaries: Books, Games, Films" Convergence session on Sunday, March 15 at 9:30am in Room 18ABCD at the Austin Convention Center. Open to all FIlm, Interactive, Gold and Platinum badgeholders. For Authors, New Media Opens New Narrative Avenues by robin cook J a m es Frey A