Interesting article by Carolyn Handler Miller, about the origins
of digital storytelling. Excerpt: On the vast timetable of human
achievements, computer-based interactive storytelling is a mere
infant, only coming into being in the mid-twentieth century with
the development of modern electronic computer technology. These
narratives are also characterized by attributes rarely found in
other forms of storytelling: they are interactive; they are
immersive; they are nonlinear; and they are participatory,
meaning that the audience not only takes part in them but can
make choices that directly impact the story. Furthermore, the
fictional characters in these stories commonly breach the fourth
wall – the invisible barrier that separates the story world on
one side and the real world on the other. In interactive
narratives, it is extremely common for the fictional characters
and the audience to communicate with each other and even for
audience members to step into the story and play a direct role
in it. Given the fact