And Other Stories

Nowadays, people often ‘watch’ instead of ‘read’. They obtain an impression instead of absorbing the content. Reading requires creativity, concentration and critical analysis, especially deep reading. By deep reading we absorb much more than mere information; a story evokes emotions, memories, even tastes and smells. As an information architect, Hsiu Chun Hsu aims to construct a new reading universe, triggering more people to read. She proposes a feature called Story DNA that defines and filters information, while also determining the extent of related and necessary information. In addition, through syntopical reading, a list of subject- and context-specific reading is drawn up, guiding the reader so they can effectively accomplish their individual purpose. This recommendation system can be personalised to meet each user’s needs and preferences through geometric progression, algorithms, curating and crowdsourcing. Lastly, since codes cannot interpret culture, we still need human intervention. Social interaction is indispensable, allowing emotions, memories and insights to flow smoothly under the core structure.