Overview

Automate presentation of a story or instructional class

Story Teller is a tool that will help you plan and present a story, lecture or instructions that are to be typed in chat for a group to 'listen' to.

While the primary focus of this product is the chat window, there is an optional screen that can display textures to compliment the talk, similar to illustrations that might appear every few pages in a book.

This system has three components

• Control HUD - the user interface
• Story Server - contains individual stories and the textures (if any) that go with it.
• Display Screen - Rez in view of your audience (optional)

Fail Safe Presentations

A reality of online presentations is that network problems can cause the presenter to go off-line for a few minutes or indefinitely. The Story Teller system is designed prevent this from being too disruptive to your audience.

Once the story server is rezzed in-world anyone with a Story Teller HUD can access it and start, or continue, a presentation should the original presenter crash or need to leave.

The Story Teller Server will accept the first user to request control as the "Controlling User". Every few seconds the Story Server will check to see if the Controlling User is still present and if not:

• will remove that person as the Controlling User and continue the presentation in "Autoplay". This is case, Pause commands, specified in the story, will automatically timeout after 20 seconds so the story can finish unattended.
• the now "uncontrolled", server will also allow anyone else with a Story Teller HUD to become the Controlling User and take over manual control of the presentation -- provided they have the correct Pin Code (if Pin Codes are configured for the Story Server).

NOTE

Having this flexibility for multiple presenters to be able to take over for someone that leaves, or having the story server continue without any one controlling it; does make the product more complicated that it would as a single user product. But I opted for this approach to have the least disruption for the audience.

Multiple Stories To Be Told?

There may be situations where you will want to present 2 or three stories. You can rez the Story Servers for all the stories to be presented ahead of time.

Then you "Scan for Servers", you will be able to select which one you want to take control of and make "Active" to present its story.

When that story is complete, just scan again and select another server.

Don't have rez rights?

If you can't rez the Story Server, you can "Add" it as a viewer HUD. The Server will resize to fit on the HUD and work with the Story Teller HUD.

When the Story Teller Server is attached, you will need to position your avatar so you are within 20 meters of everyone in your audience.

Watch a video of it in action

Detailed Information and User Guide

Story Teller HUD

The HUD works with one or more rezzed Story Servers (more about this later).

The icons on the HUD are touch buttons that allow you to:

• Play the story with an automatic delay between writing each paragraph to chat. (Note that the delay is based on the number of words in each paragraph.)
• Pause the automatic play.
• Single step through the story one paragraph at a time
• Slow down or speed up the automatic play.
• Select additional functions from a menu:
  • Restart the story from the beginning.
  • Scan for rezzed Story Servers to take control of.
  • Show the previous image. (For when someone says, show me that diagram again). You can keep backing up one image at a time.
  • Show latest Image. Returns to the current image
  • Help (link to this webpage)
• The colors of the Touch Buttons on the HUD also provide status information.

Single Step - Show the next paragraph and then pause.

Autoplay - Automatically play each paragraph pausing long enough for the text to be read.

Timed Pause- The story is in a timed pause. It will automatically resume autoplay after the specified time

Manual Pause - To story is waiting for the play or step button to be pressed.

Story Server

Each Story Server is loaded with one story to be presented.

• The story is copied into a notecard along with some optional presentation control codes.
• Any time the contents of the server changes the server will reset and the story name will be added to the Server name allowing you to find it easily in your inventory.
• There are some Second Life limitations on information read from a notecard, so be sure to read the Configuration Help.
• Under control of the HUD, each story paragraph is sent to normal chat. A paragraph ends when you press the Enter key when entering the text.
• The object writing to chat is renamed to be: "Story", so it is easy for participants to know when lines are part of the presentation and which may be your own interjected comments.
• There is also a "Autoplay" mode that will send a paragraph to chat and then wait a time proportion to the number of words in the paragraph before sending the next one to chat. You can of course 'pause' this mode to answer questions, or provide further comments.

  Make sure the speed the story is presented at is slow enough that audience members (that may not be completely fluent in the language being presented), can keep up.

  You can set the default presentation speed using a notecard named "WORDS_PER_MINUTE nnn" in the Server object's contents. The default is 150 WPM, but you can set it between 100 and 250. You can also change this speed using the HUD during the presentation if necessary.

• Each story server is a small cube that changes color to indicate its status:

  Black

  Server does not contain a STORY notecard

  Grey

  Server has been reset and is reading the story notecard

  Blue

  Server is not currently active and does not have a controlling HUD.

  Green

  Server is active (presenting a story), and has a controlling HUD

  Yellow

  Server is Active but presenting a story automatically because its controlling HUD is no longer nearby.

• The Story Teller Server talks on local chat which has a range of 20 meters. So rez your Story Teller Server in the middle of a large group so it can be heard by everyone. The HUD can control the server from any distance.

Display Screen

• The purpose of the Display Screen is to allow you to provide optional illustrations for your story.
• Each texture to be displayed will need to be uploaded to your inventory and then copied into the Story Teller Server containing the story notecard.
• The Display Screen may be any distance from the Story Teller Server
• Note if you are going to give a copy of your story to someone else to present: any textures you include must be full perm: Copy, Modify, Transfer.

Configuration

There are a number of Control Codes that can be added to the story notecard to enhance the presentation. Learn about them on the configuration page.

Permissions: Copy, Modfy, No Transfer // standard_footer(ProductConfig, ProductChanges, ParentName, ParentURL)