Investigations on Digital Storytelling: the Development of a Reference Model

New media technologies are enabling users to developa new generation of applications which move in thecentre of gravitation between Theatre, Cinema, Literature, Games, and the Arts. These new type of applications have in common thatthey employ digital media material to tell stories inan interactive way. The range of applications iswide, with storytelling employed to different degreesand with various tasks. Digital Storytelling finds employment in the transferof knowledge, for edutainment purposes, productmarketing, awareness support, or simply for play andentertainment. However, there is still no cleardefinition of Digital Storytelling, its componentsand the dimensions, which permit an assessment of anapplication and its comparison with others. Thiswould be of advantage for the development andimprovement of applications for targeted audiences. With this work I introduce Digital Storytelling as athematic area in its own right. I aim to offer aBeginners' Guide to Digital Storytelling, to derive aframework and general guidelines for the developmentof applications and to provide a foundation forbenchmarking of Digital Storytelling applications.