Tusitala created a digital experience based on Somewhere Else, Another You, a book written by Tania De Rozario and published in 2018. It was written under the writer-in-residence programme at the National University of Singapore’s Centre for Quantum Technologies.
Objectives
We wanted to promote reading in the digital space by proposing a web adaptation of a printed work. The project aimed to promote local literature as part of #BuySingLit, an industry-led movement to celebrate stories from Singapore.
We wanted this experience to target new and young readers interested in science fiction, choose-your-own-adventure stories, and narrative games.
We also wanted to bring books to where most people were – on their mobile phones.
Process
Understanding the story
A cross between a Pick Your Own Path novel and an existential crisis, this book invites you to meander through its paths, and towards your own conclusions.
Originally published by Math Paper Press (2018), Somewhere Else, Another Theories of the multiverse inspired you. Each time the reader makes a choice, the universe of the narrative splits, creating a story in which all outcomes exist at the same time but cannot be experienced concurrently.
This made it highly suitable to be adapted into a choose-your-own-adventure digital experience. The first thing we did was to read the book to understand the basic ideas of quantum physics. We watched YouTube videos, read articles, and listened to podcasts, with different degrees of success.
The turning point was our visit to the Science Centre’s “QUANTUM: The Exhibition”. It helped us visualise a lot of the complicated concepts, and we also saw an actual GOMX-2 nanosatellite on display.
Adapting the story
Following the visit, we began to work through the contents of each chapter and look for open-sourced code that would work well together. It came together in a complicated excel sheet tracking our ideas and different effects for each scene.
In the process of the adaptation we had to come up with strategies to create interactivity between readers and the story. We used underlined text to indicate the instances for choices to be made, with multiple choices for selection at each part of the story to allow readers to decide how the story would develop.
Building the pages
We tested, revised, and built the pages in stages. It was an iterative process of trial and error to see what worked.
As the story was contemplative in nature, we intentionally used sound by Singaporean musician Kin Leonn that would accentuate the story’s sci-fi themes. Effects and animations were on the slower side to force people to slow down and enjoy the story.
We also didn’t want people to get too distracted by the special effects at the expense of the story, so we limited the effects, while ensuring that they brought out the natural structure and rhythms of the text. The web design was intentionally abstract, refraining from illustrative visuals.
Final website
The digital experience was launched via #BuySingLit in March 2020 to celebrate stories from Singapore. Advocating ‘Buy Local, Read Our World’, homegrown book publishers, retailers and literary non-profits come together to encourage more people to discover and embrace Singapore’s literature.
