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THE HAUNTING
How do you tell an interactive story to mobile users in an urban park?
The Haunting Project is an immersive genre-bending gaming experience researched and developed by the Lab and Concordia University. By combining traditional genres of suspense, mystery, horror, historical documentary, with pervasive gaming the team was able to prototype a user experience that engaged with the history and landscape of Mont Royal Park in Montreal.
Extensive research was conducted to situate the narrative in the rich historical background of Mont Royal Park. Using this initial research, charrettes were created to bring together artists, designers, writers and engineers and create a wide variety of historically relevant narrative subplots for player interaction. Rich imagery, character taxonomies, and rules of play were created to flesh out the story’s plot.
In situ research activities were organized to understand the nature of the intersecting trails, player sightlines, the effects of light on gameplay. Interaction maps were developed to plan out player choices and movement along the various park paths.
Various levels of working prototypes were
completed that delivered
the interactive narrative through voices, video and animation. Bluetooth
beacons were developed to seed the game area with interactive hotspots.
Ringtones were also designed to signal the presence of specific ghosts.
The Haunting is part of the Mobile Digital Commons Network. Methodologies for interactive narrative creation developed by the Haunting Project has been integrated into the core design methodologies established at the OCAD Mobile Experience Lab.
Principal Investigators:
Sara Diamond
President, Ontario College of Art & Design
Michael Longford
Concordia University
Co-Creative Directors:
David McIntosh, PhD
Associate Professor, Ontario College of Art & Design
Michael Longford
Concordia University
