While at Viable Paradise, I met instructor Laura J. Mixon.
She's involved with an interesting endeavour in interactive storytelling, called Storytron. She hooked up with Chris Crawford of Atari fame because they were both interested in what video games do not do: focus on people and characters. The stories in a video game or book are never interactive - there is always a set outcome determined by the designer or writer. Storytron provides a way to create interesting, complex characters who react to each other based on decisions the user makes.
While I feel the user interface may need work, it's an interesting concept. Check it out!