Maze³: a practice-based research inquiry into interactive documentary in 'post-conflict' Northern Ireland

A tension is highlighted between high levels of authorial control over narratives and low levels of agency among audiences in the interpretation of traditional, audio-visual storytelling. Interactive documentary, as a user-centric and multi-narrative media form, is introduced as a potential means to engage audiences with stories of conflict in new and creative ways. <br><br>As a conceptual framework and, in an attempt to understand and bridge the gap between the fields of interactive documentary and post-conflict storytelling, Gaudenzi's (2013] taxonomy of four modes of interactivity is applied to critically analyse existing case examples of interactive documentaries that negotiate narratives of conflict: Gaza/Sderot [2008], 18 Days in Egypt (2011), Streets of Belfast (2015), and Gone Gitmo (2007). <br><br>Multiple methodological approaches are adopted to explore the field of interactive documentary, specifically in its potential application to negotiate stories of conflict.

Primarily, I adopt a practice-led inquiry as central, which involves the experimentation and development of various interactive storytelling technologies that culminates in the creation of Maze3: An Interactive Documentary. Maze3 offers a virtually simulated, navigable version of the Maze and Long Kesh prison, a significant and contested symbol of the Northern Ireland conflict Through reflection on the creative process of making Maze3, 1 outline some of the key decision points in my quest to create an artefact that embodies key interactive characteristics, such as user agency, multi-linearity, polyvocality, sense of presence and environmental contextualisation. <br><br>A qualitative, phenomenographic research study of users’ experiences of interacting with Maze3 follows, adopting screen-capture observation and ‘think-aloud’ techniques.