Narratological Constructs in the Gestalt of the 3D Game environment: Aboriginal Knowledge and its Connection to the Data Landscape Metaphor

This paper reports on a project federally funded by the Australian CRC for interaction design (ACID). It investigates the use of a 3D game engine as a landscape metaphor for hosting Australian Aboriginal knowledge practices based on performed narratives. It communicates some recent findings. Central to these findings is the need to communicate a better understanding of the complex interrelationships indigenous Australian people share with their country, how this is reflected in their narratives, and what this can tell us about digital narrative in general. It is pitched at a broad audience which includes, theorists, practitioners, and technologists. It continues issues raised in another paper presented to the European information visualisation conference 2006 (IV'06) (see [1]).