Steve
DiPaola Notes Siggraph’ 00 Panel on Interactive Storytelling
Note:
- These are the raw notes from my recent Siggraph Talk.
- They generally match with the actual presentation I gave.
- Additional they have added links and reference material.
Abstract:
Authoring the Self: Identity and Role-Playing in Virtual Communities.
As thousands upon thousands of people are daily inter-relating in avatar-based virtual communities, they are beginning to break down the old definitions of identity and self. Not only do they inhabit many identities that are each authentic in a particular context, but they also soon realize that identity itself is a dynamic construct that, like a leash, can be pulled in tight or given generous slack. In this way, one does not have to choose between the extremes of either playing a role or strictly being oneself, but instead can meander through identity space of this role of the self.
Our modern world has forced us all to each inhabit many roles in the course of the daily life -- with multiple business cards, emails, domain names and titles that are associated with each of them. Virtual communities have taken this newly discovered need for multiple and differing identities and exploded the boundaries to the point where authoring the self is blurring the lines between non-fiction and fiction.
I am
going to concentrate my talk on interactive storytelling within virtual communities,
specifically 3D Avatar-based Virtual Communities.
Thousands
upon thousands of people are now inter-relating in virtual worlds and they
are not only blurring the lines between Author and Audience but between
Fiction and Non-fiction.
I am going to give my talk today in the form of a story, a story about the
goings-on in one of these virtual worlds, in fact a story of one woman named
Purple Tears (PrpleTears) and her community.
Before
I start I just wanted to talk about Identity. We all have many identities.
We carry multiple business cards, emails, domain names. This new medium just
takes that multiplicity of identity and intensifies it in everyway. In fact,
my identity – my persona is very different up here on stage than it was, say,
if you saw me at a Siggraph party last night.
Imagine if I could change my persona, my very physical appearance to better convey my presentation today – my story about what is happening in virtual worlds. Imagine too if I could change this very conference hall room to better convey the atmosphere to tell my story in. Avatar communities can do this – extend the multiplicity of narrative that is ourselves, and our environments.
AVATARS (slide)
There are many avatar worlds: Black Sun - - - Worlds, Inc - - - ActiveWorlds,
But I will talking about only one of these today, the one I am most associated with, OnLive Traveler. For those who haven’t used it before, OnLive is the most social of the avatar worlds. It uses emotive lip-synced avatars where you feel you are really there and talking to people.
(For a discussion about onlive, see it's website or my Siggraph '99 paper on the design approach taken to create it).
(For
a general discussion of avatar worlds, see the contact
consortium).
PURPLE TEARS (slide)
We have
heard a lot on interactive authors who are professionals like most of the
us here today, but with avatar worlds it is "regular folks" doing
the authoring. Purple Tears in Onlive for example: Not a professional author
or artist, but a: mother, house wife in middle America. She describes her
home as Early America Yard Sale. She told me that when she first came onto
OnLive's 3D virtual worlds she thought they were made from physical desktop
models. She (Pam) authors herself, Purple Tears. Not fantasy – not role playing
but exploring part of her true persona. Note her handle online is spelled
PrpleTears.
She creates spaces that are intensely personal to her. Her spaces are based
on songs. She listens to a song over and over while creating a world. She
has some of the most popular spaces because she hits a shared emotion. So
for Purple Tears, her worlds are a visualization of a musical narrative. So
the song writer like Cat Stevens for instance is the author too but her spaces
go beyond their musical inspiration and narrative ...
SAD LISA (slide: Traveler space)
I’m going to bring
up one of Purple Tears spaces called Sad Lisa, which is about a friend of
hers who, after many years of drug and alcohol abuse, committed suicide. It
uses the Cat Stevens song “Sad Lisa”. (
Sad Lisa Space: http://209.219.15.163/Onlive/sadlisa.olv - need traveler
client to view).
The space: Sad Lisa Very lost woman then suicide. Stairs all going no-where. Looking out a window, a room with a lone chair spilled wine glass and pills.
This is not a singular piece of art work (although it surely works on that level) but a space that others come into and inter-relate with each other in. So she creates her narrative which can be thought of as a set in a movie or play. Then others in the community come into it and express themselves but they are coming in with there own personal narrative. She often comes in as a difference identity (not as Purple Tears) and in my view watches a unknown play evolve on her set. Truly blurring who is the author and who is the audience. Definitely Purple Tears’ personal narrative, but then added to and changed by the participants that arrive there with there own intertwining narratives. Then she might adapt it but most likely makes a new world/set for her friends - the “players” and continuing issues in her life in and out of OnLive.
LOVE & DEATH ( 2 slides)
That was about the narrative of spaces, now lets go back and talk about personas or avatars. Who are they, how do they change there identities from real life. Again not about fantasy or role playing but about expressing a persona, or real part of you. Purple Tears is Pam (who is in the bottom middle of the image) is a house wife with husband and kids in middle America. But as purple tears she is more open, outgoing, more wild.
So identity online is real as life, she has close friends that know her for two years as Purple Tears. Others are living out their particular personas. It begins to blur what is nonfiction and fiction. Fiction: the narrative of the persona, but a narrative that expresses a real person and a real part of that persons identity. Purple Tears has been “onLive” for over two years, she has friends, even relationship as Purple Tears. She is not playing a role, but is better expressing part of her. A part that is hard to express as a mom. Purple Tears is more like how Pam was when she was in her 20’s in Hawaii. More open and free. When they found out that one of the members of the community - cyberstar - had cancer, they took this picture as a get well card for her.
(Slide 2) image2
Pam would rather be purple tears. - Living life. Because her life in OnLive is very real. A few months later, when purple tearts had just finished make this space, the community found out that cyperstar had died. The space became a gather place and purple tears added a plauge in memory and a wake occured.
So very strong friendships are made, even relationships. A love relationship in onlive is a very mental, purple tears explained to me. For hours a day you bear your soul talking with your mate. It is very intense, no going out to the movies – the only thing is you two and finding out every detail about each others lives and feelings – very intense. You suck every bit of each other rapidly. Like everything else in this new medium - it has fast and intense. And then there is nothing left - you know everything so it breaks up. Very mental, not physical, but you do fall in love. And it hurts bad (maybe worse) when you break up. Purple Tears has had many relationships in 2 years “in world”. This is not surface or fantasy based – it is more "you" ( and true) than imaginable, because you bear your soul more– you have to talk from the heart about every aspect of your life. So you have accelerated, intense, honest relationships – the love relationship cycle is accelerated. You meet, fall in love, get hurt, break up – and possible find another in a community of ex’s and close friends.
INTENSE TRUTH (OnLive space: uninvited)
I’m going to show you
another space that Purple Tears made – Uninvited, that is about one of these
relationships, where the gentleman knew it was coming to and end, and how
obsessive he became. He was obsessively jealous and possessive - would stalk
her, watch her – was worried about her straying because in this atmosphere
were everyone knows all and has had relationships with all, he knew it would
end and he freaked about it. If Purple Tears didn't not move ( nod) her avatar
around, he would accuse her of texting ( using the person to person text chat)
to other people "behind his back". She was feeling trapped, and
longed to be free.
The Uninvited space shows: her cage with keys just out of reach, he is demon face which created the cage. (Uninvited Space: http://209.219.15.163/Onlive/uninvited.sds - need traveler client to view).
So she creates
artwork – worlds based on emotional release tied to a song. People use her
artwork as their community environment. She is there with past relationships,
friends and possible future ones. This is not about fantasy but about a real
facet ofher identity. Even though she is different in onlive, it is her. When
in a relationship they talk the truth – every aspect of there lives. More
so then in a “skin” world (as she refers to the real world). For instance
everyone knows that she is married, kids and lives an "everyday life".
But they see the inner side – the artist, the emotional one, the open one.
They all use a narrative to tell their truths, to author themselves.
WHOS ART (onlive space: Nativity)
Nativity scene in which all created their avatars and meet on Christmas Eve but then avatars become permanant sculptures, a nativity set that they can revise year after year.
So a person Purple Tears, creating art with a community of people (her friends) that becomes the very parks, streets, community squares that they meet in. From the dynamics of their relationships, both at the personal and community leve,l other artwork is created (with sometimes very strong and personal narratives) which again make the landscape, the environment of their community. They are both expressing themselves and living inside their art work.
These people are doing it now with onlive, but soon all of us will be able to augment and extend our personas via expression systems.
I’m now at Muse (www.musecorp.com) and also what I did for The Sims with the FaceLift program (http://www.dipaola.org/steve/facelift.html) where we are making toolkits that can be used in different ways to express and extend your persona- your narrative.
So as a professional artist/author/musician you put some of your soul into an art creation tool that others use to express a part of themselves, singularly or collaboratively. Who is the author, who owns the new art, who is the consumer or audience of the art. Who knows. This has and will continue to breakdown things like copyright law and ownership.
EVERYONES
Purple Tears and her community are living out this virtual narrative of spaces and people now in OnLive, but in a few years all of us will be able to augment and extend our personas via expression systems. Exploring and extended different parts of our real identities and personas via narrative and expression based systesm where the story and the real belnd together.
I’m now at Muse and created FaceLift for the game The Sims where we are making expression tools that can be used in different ways to express and extend your persona - your narrative. So the future might be more about as a professional artist/author/musician, putting some of your soul into an art creation tool that others use to express a part of themselves, singularly or collaboratively. Who is the author, who owns the new art, who is the consumer or audience of the art. Who knows. This has and will continue to breakdown things like copyright law and ownership.
Purple Tears' Traveler SpacesInfo and Download OnLive Traveler
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Steve DiPaola Notes Siggraph Panel 00 – Interactive Storytelling
