Exploring the experience with tangible interactive narrative: Authoring and evaluation of Letters to José

• Published in: Entertainment computing 2023-01, Vol.44, p.100535, Article 100535
• Main Authors: Echeverri, Daniel, Wei, Huaxin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Artifacts for storytelling; Interactive narrative; Letters to José; Narrative system; Tangible interaction; Tangible narrative
• ISSN: 1875-9521; 1875-953X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.entcom.2022.100535

•We present the making of Letters to José, a tangible story, examine the experience offered to the interactors, introduce the findings of a mixed-method study that sought to explore the experience of a group of people that engaged with Letters to José, and focus on the lessons learned that can guide in the future the authoring of tangible narratives.•This paper presents the structural considerations of Letters to José and discusses in detail some of the most relevant results of a study that sought to investigate the experiences of people interacting with our Tangible Narrative.•The paper contributes a fully implemented design case to the repository of IDNs with the aim of extending the knowledge and understanding of tangible narrative.•The paper discusses a mixed-method user study with twelve participants that observed how they engaged with Letters to José and invited them to openly comment on this unique form of tangible narrative. The main objective of the study was to investigate the phenomenological experiences of the participants and understand the motives, factors, and mechanisms that led them to enjoy the narrative.•The emphasis of the study was placed on the qualitative component of the data; namely, the primary source to acquire knowledge in the subjective experiences of people engaging with tangible narratives.•The design and assessment indicate that physical artifacts and narrative structure play an important role in fostering an enjoyable narrative experience.•Among the key findings is that it is vital to organically integrate ludic actions with designed stimulation of the interactor’s imagination through various modalities and materialities in interactive storytelling.•The study presented in the paper highlights the importance of artifacts and their materiality in Tangible Narratives as elements that support the interactor’s involvement with the narrative and foster the development of mental imagery.•The enjoyment of the narrative experience through the physical and ludic manipulation of artifacts seems to be linked to the development of empathy and identification towards the characters and the events, facilitate the comprehension of the story, and create a sense of personal involvement.•The agency provided through physical artifacts mediated between the narrative and the interactor. These artifacts represent expressive aspects of the story, tie the interactor not only on an interactive level but also on the narrative, meaningful level of the