Development of Narrative Backbone

I began to organise a story to act as a background for the narrative experience of the Memecom Gateway. This story acts mainly as a history that precedes the user interaction, that can be pieced together from various areas of information, communications and files. The use of this timeline was crucial when it came to the email conversations but also helped to underpin the experience by allowing the user to form their own conclusions and hypotheses.

I began with an extrapolation of current technology and the integration of an origin for the central character of J Random Hacker; a biometric scientist that turned to hacking in order to prove the vulnerabilities of that technology and develop an alternative method. Using this character as a pivotal figure in the future of the biometric technology, I incorporated a theoretical solution and extrapolated the possible benefits, flaws and effects that this might have for society.

In order to put this tale into perspective for the audience and provide more direct and real-world examples of the concepts involved, I included various areas of reference; such as the web page collections, URL links, documents written by eminent theorists and experts, PDF documents and text files. All of which help to show the user that the computer was once owned by a computer security specialist, who also had a great resource concerning hacking and identity theft.

I had always intended a set piece within the Memecom Gateway to be a simulated hacking attempt, where control would be commandeered by a remote user. This also provided me with an opportunity to add more information that would make the history and characters intentions clearer and more direct. When the user had proven their ability with the Memecom interface they are rewarded with more information and shown in what direction they might continue in order to find out more. There are a number of such moments within the work, where the user must connect certain details in order to progress deeper into both the Memecom Gateway and the story itself. These events also help to divide the experience into different environments and lead the user to a finale where the nature of the activity that is being encouraged is fully understood.