StoryTec has been conceptualized as rapid prototyping environment to facilitate the authoring process of interactive applications. Examples include, but are not limited to Story-based city and museum guides, classical Web-based training courses, game-based learning appliances for kids, students and families as well as process-oriented, individual and collaborative simulation and training environments for trainees and employees or personalized exergames to increase the motivation for a sportive and healthy life.

The overall aim of StoryTec is to support authors and authoring groups – user-centred and via graphic-interactive features – within the multi-phase authoring process.

Concrete objectives and features of the StoryTec rapid prototyping authoring environment include:

• Provision of a rapid prototyping environment for the iterative, multi-phase authoring process, including a simulation and testing environment (player) to test and analyse the unfolding process of the application.
• Several editors to structure and organise stories/applications (Story Editor), to compose story sequences, learning units or game situations (Stage Editor), to integrate and manage content (Object Browser and Property Editor), to create actions (Action Set Editor) and to provide rules and conditions (Condition Editor) for the control of the story/application during run-time.
• Graphic-interactive user interfaces and natural language elements to improve the usability of the system, especially with respect to the definition of interactive elements by authors without/minor programming skills.
• Variants of StoryTec, with pre-configured setups, adapted to the specific needs, requirements and necessary elements for individual application domains and targeted (end) user groups.
• Methods and concepts for encapsulation and re-use of content (e.g. text, images, videos, 3D elements or animations) and structures in different scenarios.
• Scalability and cross-platform capability: Export formats for web-based, mobile and local applications for individuals and groups.

USP: Compared to other authoring tools and middleware – e.g. in the learning and gaming sector – the Story Editor provides graphic-interactive support for the users/authors to create, organise and manage overall story and application structures, such as learning courses, game levels and level structures or other applications, stories and processes.

For additional information please visit www.storytec.de.