Interactive Narratives

“Viral Sockpuppets” is a character-driven crowd-sourced conversational story-making game, played within the YouTube community. Every time someone asks you a question it has the potential to change the direction of your own personal narrative, but two people can only develop a narrative for a short period of time before it eventually dies. Equipping a community of storytellers with the power to design and resolve conflicts on a public stage can not only guarantee a committed audience for his or her story, but will also produce a one-of-a-kind experience. The creation of a good story does not need to be linear, formulaic or built around a single plot. The “Viral Sockpuppets” is a virtual “story-world” populated by characters that create new organically developed stories through an “exquisite corpse”-like game. The protagonist asks the community to help resolve a dilemma by responding to the question with a “sub-plot” story suggestion. Players are then divided into categories: the active players who produce “sub-plots” and the passive players who vote on which sub-plot is selected for the narrative. Once an active player wins the public vote two times within the active narrative (it does not need to be consecutive), that player assumes the role of protagonist. At that time, the current dilemma is resolved and a new one is launched featuring the new protagonist. In this way, the “story-world” of the game never ends facilitating “sub-plots” and narrative chapters to continue the story forever. More…

In 1957, UC Berkeley student Burton Abbott was tried, convicted and executed for the kidnapping and killing of a 14-year-old girl. The case was based on purely circumstantial evidence, and a created a media frenzy in its day. This tool allows users to look at the news articles leading up to the execution, and vote on whether they thought Abbott was guilty of his crime. ( This project was done entirely in HTML5, no Flash used. ) More…

WSJ India presents an interactive project that records the challenges and opportunities that companies and government face as rural india becomes a much larger part of the country's economic infrastructure. More…

Energy makes America go. But the way we get it is more complex and vulnerable than most of us realize. The truth about energy is that change won't come easily. Here, you can explore America’s energy stories, meet the people behind the debate and join the conversation about our future. This project was UNC-Chapel Hill's contribution to News21, a Carnegie and Knight initiative developed to foster innovation in journalism. More…

When the Grand View Topless Coffee shop in Vassalboro opened in February 2009, Lisa Beaudreau and Star Cunningham both found jobs there. "Yes, I am a topless waitress, but I'm just a regular normal person in society," Cunningham says. "I honestly don't think in this economy right that there is a job out there that would pay roughly the same." In June, the shop burned down in a suspected arson and reopened in tent‎. More…

The postseason is what Arizona does. The Arizona Wildcats softball team is in the NCAA tournament for the 23rd-straight season. All but one of those has ended at the Women's College World Series. Eight times, the team finished the season at the pinnacle of the sport - as the national champion. More…

Photographer Robbie Cooper shows just how focused young video-game players can be. More…

Jason Ray was a former UNC mascot for the Carolina Tar Heels who was tragically killed alongside a road in New Jersey before a UNC basketball game. This package details his life, his death and his decision made long ago to donate his organs. More…

Paul Mawhinney was born and raised in Pittsburgh, PA. Over the years he has amassed what has become the world's largest record collection. Due to health issues and a struggling record industry Paul is being forced to sell his collection. This is the story of a man and his records. More…

Multimedia presentation in support of Dispatch reporter Mike Wagner's story "James 'Buster' Douglas: The Next Round." The story and multimedia piece explore the life of the former heavyweight champion in the 18 years since he won the title from Mike Tyson. More…