Participative Interpretation Using Interactive Digital Storytelling
摘要
The use of Interactive Digital Storytelling affords the provision of multiple perspectives for the interactor to engage with as they explore the subject matter presented (Koenitz Understanding interactive digital narrative: Immersive expressions for a complex time. Taylor & Francis, 2023). Such multiple perspectives could be different interpretations offered by various archaeologists for a given cultural heritage site, based on different schools of thought (Grima Water, geomythology and cosmology in late Neolithic Malta, 2016) or in comparison with their own experience excavating other contemporary sites (Malone Ritual space and structure—The context of cult in Malta and Gozo. Cult in context: Reconsidering ritual in archaeology, 23–34, 2007, and Metaphor and Maltese art: Explorations in the temple period. Journal of Mediterranean Archaeology, 21(1), 87, 2008). Curators regularly face the challenge of evaluating these perspectives, some belonging to the archaeologist performing the original discovery while others belonging to more recent interpretations, in order to present a mostly singular interpretation to accompany a site or artifact, with the more traditional perspective usually gaining more attention (Stroud A Neolithic world view lost in translation: The case of the Tarxien temples. Journal of Skyscape Archaeology, 5(2), 191, 2019). An Interactive Digital Narrative can bring this selective process to the visitor by presenting the different perspectives and allowing the interactor to make their own decision as to which interpretation to subscribe to. This is particularly applicable to Neolithic sites about which little to no documentary evidence is available to shed light on their purpose or use. A prototype that can help compare these perspectives has been designed and developed, allowing visitors to voice questions and receive answers based on evidence gathered from published sources. Such a prototypical tool can help design interactive narratives that present and allow interactors to explore and make their own interpretations based on multiple perspectives.