Interaction designers and developers in the Blended Interaction Studio have been studying how to create digital stories using mobile technologies. We have created a series of home grown tools that enable our researchers to build stories, implement stories automatically and validate stories on location. We began our empirical studies at GCVM in early spring.

• We looked at how local elementary and middle schools conducted their field trips.
• We regularly visited the site to collect lesson materials and historical content from GCVM and school teachers.
• We developed tools and templates to create consistent frameworks around mobile interactive story builds.
• We acted out our stories from scripts
• We are continuously iterating on mobile interactive stories and software tools.

The week of July 15th we plan to test the full beta prototype of the NYSCA Mobile Experiences for Tourism Project. Other July activities include media and asset creation, formalization of interaction design evaluation strategy and continue the agile development lifecycle of our prototype.