The following definitions explain how terms are used within The Sarajevo CHARTER and are not intended to be accepted beyond that function.
- Communicology
Communicology is an academic discipline that distinguishes itself from the broader field of human communication with its exclusive use of scientific methods to study communicative phenomena. Internet media has its rules and laws for information presentation. The communicologist contribution is suggesting the most appropriate ways of adjusting the interactive digital storytelling (IDS) to this media, with the goal of obtaining maximum user immersion into the story/application.
- Cultural Heritage (CH)
UNESCO defines cultural heritage as the legacy of physical artefacts and intangible attributes of a group or society that are inherited from past generations, maintained in the present and bestowed for the benefit of future generations. In Sarajevo CHARTER, the term cultural heritage is used for all domains of human activity which are concerned with the understanding of communication of the material and intellectual culture. Some of the examples of the domains are museums, heritage sites, serious games, arts and humanities subjects within higher education institutions, tourism and similar.
- Edutainment
It is a combination of entertainment and education, especially important when introducing serious games in digital cultural heritage presentations.
- Film Directing
A film director is a person who directs the making of a film. A film director controls a film’s artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the technical crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. Interactive digital stories contain a large number of film forms. In fact, they are a combination of movies and interactive virtual environments (VEs) such as computer games. The director has a leading role in the creation of these movies, as well as directing the interaction within the VEs, to obtain the most user-friendly combination and enable the user to learn the presented information.
- Head Mounted Display (HMD)
Head mounted display is a head-worn device which allows the user to look around the VE using natural head motions which allows deep immersion of the user.
- Human-Computer Interaction (HCI)
HCI is the study (with the main focus on the interfaces between people (users) and computers) of how people interact with computers and to what extent computers are developed for successful interaction with human beings. The HCI expert contribution is the development and application of a new method for user experience evaluation dedicated to the IDS. The evaluation encompasses the quality of interaction and information perception and focuses on the following heuristics important for digital storytelling: user immersion and edutainment value.
- Interactive Digital Storytelling (IDS)
The use of digital media platforms and interactivity for narrative purposes, either for fictional or non-fiction stories can be considered as interactive digital storytelling. IDS enables the user to influence the flow and sometimes even the content of the story.
- Literature – storytelling
The writer of interactive digital stories’ scenarios is adjusting their storytelling methodology to the Internet media. They have on a disposal an enhanced set of tools, instead of pure text, to tell the story. In collaboration with the director and other team members, the writer decides on the narrative method, characters and user interaction, to raise the attractiveness for the users.
- Multimedia
Multimedia is content that uses a combination of different content forms such as text, audio, images, animations, video and interactive content to convey information.
- Narrative Paradox
Virtual environments with interactive storytelling enable the user to watch stories on demand. This advantage could turn into a drawback if users do not watch all the offered content. In literature, this is called solving the narrative paradox. It is the conflict between pre-authored narrative structures – especially plot – and the freedom a VE offers a user in physical movement and interaction, integral to a feeling of physical presence and immersion.
- The multidisciplinary team of experts
A standard issue in new online media research is that it is constrained to just one scientific field. IDS, as a novel form of media communication, needs to be considered by experts from all relevant fields in order to develop a new methodology appreciated by all user target groups.
- User evaluation
User evaluation is the assessment of user experiences with IDS applications. In Sarajevo CHARTER, this term is used for all the methods, skills and tools utilised to uncover how a person perceives an IDS application before, during and after interacting with it.
- Virtual Reality (VR)
In IDS, the main medium where all interactivity happens is Virtual Environment (VE). It is a digitally generated environment that users perceive as realistic and non-synthetic with a key component – the ability to immerse the user.
- VR Camera
In traditional video productions, the viewpoint is chosen by the director, unlike in 360-degree video, where viewers are allowed to change their viewpoint in the scene interactively. VR Camera is a particular type of camera for recording 360-degree videos.
- Visual Arts – Graphic Design
Graphic design is the art or profession of using design elements (such as typography, photography and illustration) to convey information or create an effect. Graphic design expert is in charge of the visual appearance of the IDS application, starting with the user interface, until the picture elements distribution and shot composition. They need to define a set of rules to be applied to the IDS application to make it visually appealing to the user, who should interact with it easily and naturally.