Mediating Interactions Among System Agents and System Clients

A system for mediating interactions among system agents and system clients includes a computing platform having a hardware processor and a system memory storing an interaction cueing software code including decision trees corresponding to storylines. The hardware processor executes the interaction cueing software code to receive interaction data corresponding to an interaction of a system client with a first system agent, identify a storyline for use in guiding subsequent interactions with the system client based on the interaction data, and store the interaction data and data identifying the storyline in a client profile assigned to the system client. The interaction cueing software code further determines an interaction cue or cues for coaching the same or another system agent in a second interaction with the system client based on the interaction data and a decision tree corresponding to the storyline, and transmits the interaction cue(s) to the system agent.

BACKGROUND

Interactive presentations, such as participatory stories, for example, have the potential to offer immersive experiences in which audience members can create or influence a dramatic plot through their own speech and/or actions. In contrast to participatory stories, in which a primary goal is to draw audience members into a to dramatized world in which their participation becomes an integral part of the evolution of the storyline, even affecting its outcome, traditional linear narratives provide relatively few opportunities for audience participation to influence events within a story.

However, conventional approaches to producing and directing interactive presentations such as participatory stories have failed to overcome the challenges posed by the creation of content having a complex narrative structure while concurrently enabling significant participation by audience members. The limitations on audience participation imposed on conventionally produced interactive presentations exist because the authoring complexity of such presentations grows rapidly with the number of different story arcs and the number of interaction possibilities. As a result, conventionally produced interactive presentations tend to provide either strong narrative experiences with limited opportunities for audience participation, or compelling interactive experiences having simple narrative structures, but fails to provide interactive presentations that are both narratively compl