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arXiv · 2603.02366

PlayWrite: A Multimodal System for AI Supported Narrative Co-Authoring Through Play in XR

Esen K. Tütüncü·Qian Zhou·Frederik Brudy·George Fitzmaurice·Fraser Anderson
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Abstract

Current AI writing tools, which rely on text prompts, poorly support the spatial and interactive nature of storytelling where ideas emerge from direct manipulation and play. We present PlayWrite, a mixed-reality system where users author stories by directly manipulating virtual characters and props. A multi-agent AI pipeline interprets these actions into Intent Frames -structured narrative beats visualized as rearrangeable story marbles on a timeline. A large language model then transforms the user's assembled sequence into a final narrative. A user study (N=13) with writers from varying domains found that PlayWrite fosters a highly improvisational and playful process. Users treated the AI as a collaborative partner, using its unexpected responses to spark new ideas and overcome creative blocks. PlayWrite demonstrates an approach for co-creative systems that move beyond text to embrace direct manipulation and play as core interaction modalities.

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Esen K. Tütüncü, Qian Zhou, Frederik Brudy, George Fitzmaurice, Fraser Anderson. 2026-03-02. PlayWrite: A Multimodal System for AI Supported Narrative Co-Authoring Through Play in XR. https://doi.org/10.1145/3772318.3791159

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