軟件幫你講故事

????照理我應該是提出問題的那個人。不過，當我和史蒂芬?拉庫納斯在舊金山金融區的Tully's咖啡廳前交談時，他卻率先發問了：“你有什么新聞？”其實，我不該感到吃驚。因為拉庫納斯開辦了一家新創企業Story Coach，目標就是構建一部包含有每個人生活經歷的百科全書。Story Coach是出版社、編輯和時間膠囊的綜合體。人人都可以給Story Coach講故事，無論是口述還是寫出來都可以。Story Coach隨后會把這些故事轉變成電子或實體書。詳細的流程是：用戶通過打電話、打印文稿或郵寄錄音帶等方式將故事發給Story Coach。故事的主題一般是人們在生命歷程中的智慧結晶。Story Coach有一套軟件能讓故事講得更精彩：例如，它會提示，這里需要詳細點，或者這里得潤色一下。公司首席技術官——42歲的拉庫納斯將這套軟件稱為故事專家（Story-Tech）。記錄完故事后，Story Coach的算法會在互聯網上搜索與故事相關的歷史資料——新聞片段、圖片、視頻等。最后，根據故事以及網上找到的資料，Story Coach團隊中的設計師會為故事增添一副原創插圖。

????【聽起來是不是有點像口述歷史的21世紀版本，事實也的確如此。Story Coach創立之初曾尋求與StoryCorps展開合作，后者是美國國家公共電臺（NPR）在2002年成立的一家機構，致力于講述老百姓日常生活中的故事。不過目前雙方的合作還沒有進展?！?/p>

????創辦Story Coach的點子最開始誕生于Design Garage課程上的一個團隊項目，這門課程是傳奇設計工作室IDEO的創始人大衛?凱利在斯坦福大學（Stanford）設計學院開授的。在斯坦福，拉庫納斯與Story Coach現任首席執行官馬克?羅杰斯、設計師朱爾斯?謝爾曼、銷售主管扎克?奧斯本三人組成項目團隊。項目一開始是一項針對老年人的醫療服務。不過，經過一番研究后，他們發現這些潛在用戶的最大需求是與家中的年輕人進行交流。

????所以，他們決定調整項目，從可能擁有最多故事的人——祖父母們著手。項目團隊前往老年中心尋找志愿者。拉庫納斯沒有使用“老年人”這個詞，他把自己的第一批用戶稱為“長老”以凸顯其智慧。截至到目前，Story Coach總共已經制作了30本書，計劃以每本電子書5美元以及每本實體書20美元的價格出售。出版資金完全自籌，銷售所得將被Story Coach用來繼續開展與健康有關的工作。有朝一日，Story Coach的講故事技術會讓故事變得更加“聰明”——例如根據讀者的問題在故事進行中調整情節（有些聰明的寶寶，大人每說一句話，他們都會問一句“為什么”。對這些孩子而言，這或許是個不錯的功能）。

????講故事是一項古老的活動。Story Coach希望能為這個傳統的活動注入新鮮的活力。

????譯者：項航

????I'm supposed to be the one asking the questions. But as we chat in front of Tully's cafe in San Francisco's financial district, Stephen Racunas says to me, "So what's your story?" I shouldn't be surprised he's asking. Racunas' startup, Story Coach, aims to build an encyclopedia of every person's life lessons.

????Story Coach is part publisher, part editor, part time-capsule. The service lets people tell a short story to the company, either verbally or written out. Story Coach then turns the yarn into an electronic or physical book. Here's how it works: A customer either phones in, types up, or records and sends in a story. Typically the topics are those pearls of wisdom one picks up along the way of life. The software, which 42-year-old Racunas, the chief company's technologist, has dubbed Story-Tech, provides prompts to bolster the tale: elaborate here, embellish there, for instance. An algorithm then scrapes the web for relevant historical content -- news clippings, pictures, video footage. Then, based on the story and material found online, one of the team's designers creates original illustrations.

????(If that sounds a bit like a 21st century version of the oral history, it is. The firm originally sought to partner with StoryCorps, an NPR program that focuses on telling the stories of everyday people and that has been around since 2002. No luck so far.)

????The idea was born out of a group project in Design Garage, a class at Stanford's design school taught by David Kelley, founder of legendary design firm IDEO. At Stanford, Racunas teamed up with fellow student Mark Rogers, now Story Coach's CEO, and designer Jules Sherman and head of sales Zach Osborne. The idea began as a medical project focused on serving seniors. But after some research, they found that potential users' biggest desire was connecting with younger family members.

????So they decided to tweak the plan and start with the segment that presumably has the most stories to tell: grandparents. The team went around to senior centers asking for volunteers. Instead of using the word "senior," Racunas refers to his first costumers as "elders" to designate their wisdom. The company has made about 30 books to date, and plans to sell them for $5 per e-book and $20 per hardcover. They are self-funded, and have raised money for Story Coach by continuing to work on health tech. And someday their storytelling technology could even make tales "smarter" -- like changing the plot mid-story based questions from a reader (good, perhaps, for the precocious grandchild who asks "why?" after every sentence).

????Storytelling is an ancient practice. Story Coach wants to take it into the future.