This project has two outcomes, a programme branching-narrative video engine and infinite generic videos of a snowshoeing journey in the Okanagan.

1 IntroductionTraditional cinema-going uses linear format video to help the audience to focus on the screen. Precise and fast-paced editing can keep people engaged while the music helps immersive audiences further. Interactivity is solely limited to the aftermath of viewing; critical thinking and reflections as social activity shifts from collective thinking to individual experience. As the pandemic continues, cinema-goers shift to online customized entertainment. Would the audience enjoy video work more when having control in sequence and music? What is the significance of generative art if the user does not know about it?

2 Background  As a student artist, I have worked on video work, installations and extended reality experiences. The commonality is that I always have difficulty communicating the creative process to the audience/users, and why executive decisions were made. For this project, I am interested in showing the behind the scene work to the public and thus empower users with knowledge and comfort of seeing the creative process.

In the readings, Rokeby believes interactive technology gives "empowerment" to users as video games always amplify the illusion of power. (147) With that in mind, I desire to create a work with interface becoming part of the content for the user to interact with. However, Campbell said that “if a work is responding predictably and the viewers become aware of the correlation … then they will feel that they are in control, and the possibility of dialogue is lost.” (133) It took me trials and errors to create a fine balance of predictability between 4 sets of videos.

This project also dived into the domain of generative work through algorithms. There are advantages of doing so, which is explained in 3.1 software design. Yet, the unfamiliarity of letting computers do most of the work is frightening to me. Generative art is a new domain to me, and I have to understand it before creating work to explain to the public. My biggest takeaway is that humans are partnering with coding to create infinite possibilities in a shorter time. Access to creative coding advances us to focus on aesthetic rules and experience design. Highlighting the computer assign sequence to clips does not have to be shown to the audience in my work.

3 Experience Design“A labyrinth is designed to be disorienting, but because it provides a single route, the wanderer will never be truly lost.” (28, Lupton)

When designing the user’s journey, I adopted a labyrinth design, which is a controlled environment in which a user has a fixed path from beginning to end. Through the guided paths, no matter the work is shown in an exhibition or a virtual experience, I am their guide and creator.