(by SIG Chair, Wendy Despain)

Today was one of those days where there were too many sessions to go to and too many meetings scheduled. Sadly, the one session I was looking forward to and forced time into the schedule for was canceled with no warning. I guess the writer working on transmedia stuff for Heroes and Lost had a wacky schedule, what with the strike being over and everything.

So nothing to report from that session. Hopefully other Writing SIG members will have notes to share from sessions they attended.

The one session I got to was about detecting brain waves with a headphones type thing and using that data to anticipate the player’s emotional state and intended actions. They say there’s a one second lag between when there’s a detectable, subconscious urge to do something and the conscious action of the player. Their theory is that we can use that one second to stay just ahead of the player, guiding their experience and reacting to their unconscious feedback.

Fairly blue-sky stuff at this stage, although they say they have a working prototype at their booth on the expo floor. For the whole session, I was thinking of how this interface could impact story, but I think I’ve come to the conclusion that interactive narrative still has some basic problems to solve - whether or not the feedback we’re getting from the player is conscious or unconscious.