ARIS: augmented reality for interactive storytelling
Christopher C. Holden · ETC Press eBooks · 2015
Several of the authors in this book use the Augmented Reality (AR) game design and storytelling platform ARIS in their work. Rather than have them explain the basics of the tool in each chapter, or send you off somewhere else (e.g. Holden et al., 2014) to read about ARIS just to make sense of our authors' use of it, we have chosen to describe the ins and out of this popular tool for creating augmented reality stories and games separately here. The editors have all used ARIS extensively, and--disclaimer--also have been involved with the ARIS project itself. Although we specifically sought submissions for this book from those not using ARIS, and the stories we share in the book are a clear indication that there are other games in town so to speak, we have come across a great number of people who have used ARIS to do some really interesting work. It is powerful, yet malleable and the price--free--is right. This chapter should serve a conceptual as well as practical purpose. After all, the mobile landscape itself is changing quite rapidly. Details that felt practical as I write this for you will likely soon feel out of date as the world and software within it change. There is a lot of turnover among apps, platforms, and methods in mobile. It is unusual enough to see something like ARIS grow and stick around, and I wouldn't want the book to feel pointless if ARIS is gone or greatly changed by the time you read this.