Harvey writes about the possibilities interactive storytelling presents, particularly for documentary. He also presents the reader with a newer kind of media experience, ‘alternative reality gaming’ (ARG), which – due to its form as a game – encourages audiences to actively participate with the text as players rather than passively view as a member of an audience. He suggests that this idea of participation aligns itself with the existing form of web-based interactive documentary storytelling, and that an entirely new non-fiction film experience might be achieved through merging the two forms. ARG-based documentary, as he calls it, allows the creator and the consumer to ‘co-create’ the experience or the plot, however he suggests this raises questions about authorship – not necessarily in a bad way though. He also raises questions over non-linear form in documentary, since linearity has historically defined the documentary genre, but suggests that by ordering scenes into general sequences, through themes or ideas, cohesion can be achieved no matter what.
Harvey suggests that turning the act of viewing into a creative task (through audience contribution) is a defining trait of the interactive documentary genre, and goes beyond web-based examples such as texts made in Korsakov. He presents examples such as GPS technology being used to create an interactive experiences, as is the case with the ‘museum wearable’ – “a wearable computer which orchestrates an audiovisual narration as a function of the visitor’s interests gathered from his or her physical path in the museum.” (Sparacino 2008 cited in Vladica and Davis 2008: 320). He also mentions 3D imaging and immersive documentary which literally surround the audience member with the narrative
