Data spaces, in computation, are defined by Wikipedia as “an abstraction in data management that aim to overcome some of the problems encountered in data integration system”. In the context of Bill Viola’s piece “Will There Be Condominiums in Dataspace?”, the term takes on an additional meaning: data, be it media or information, that remains fluidly influenced by the shape of its environment. Put simply, that we will begin to see an increased interactivity in the media we engage with as our new hyper-digital data space becomes more affording of audience engagement. In Viola’s words: “Soon, the way we approach making films and videotapes will drastically change. The notion of a “master” edit and “original” footage will disappear. Editing will become the writing of a software program that will tell the computer how to arrange (i.e., shot order, cuts, dissolves, wipes, etc.) the information on the disc, playing it back in the specified sequence in real time or allowing the viewer to intervene”.
While Bandersnatch is not the purest ideal of what Viola’s work preaches, it comes very close to achieving it. Strictly speaking, Bandersnatch does already exist in a pre-existing form. “Fixed in time”, as Viola puts it. It has already been filmed, produced, and programmed to react in certain ways. Like with all CYOA media, there is a certain degree of pre-determinism even in a narrative where you can “choose your own adventure”. Although you get to choose the path, the optional paths and their consequences have already been designed long before you ever touched it. However, it does still hold true to the principle of Viola’s vision by allowing the story to change and evolve in tandem with the audience’s participation, the information and story itself shaped by its relationship to the viewer. As such, no two viewers will have the exact same experience.
The logical progression of this technology would be to omit the limitations of the CYOA genre and allow for stories to tell themselves – that is, to find a way that the same story can be infinitely edited and changed by the one experiencing it. The closest approximation to this would be NovelAI, an AI writing assistant that writes the story alongside you, and changes its future prompt fulfillment based on edits and additions you’ve made. Fluid, endlessly changing media that is relentlessly shaped and reshaped by your contributions to it – the TTRPG of the digital age, in a way. If such a thing were to be implemented as a new form of media, CYOA-based storytelling could be elevated from simply choosing your adventure to collaboratively helping to create it.