Representing transmedia fictional worlds through ontology

Currently, there is no structured data standard for representing elements commonly found in transmedia fictional worlds. Although there are websites dedicated to individual universes, the information found on these sites separate out the various formats, concentrate on only the bibliographic aspects of the material, and are only searchable with full text. We have created an ontological model that will allow various user groups interested in transmedia to search for and retrieve the information contained in these worlds based upon their structure. We conducted a domain analysis and user studies based on the contents of Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, the Marvel Universe, and Star Wars in order to build a new model using Ontology Web Language (OWL) and an artificial intelligence‐reasoning engine. This model can infer connections between transmedia properties such as characters, elements of power, items, places, events, and so on. This model will facilitate better search and retrieval of the information contained within these vast story universes for all users interested in them. The result of this project is an OWL ontology reflecting real user needs based upon user research, which is intuitive for users and can be used by artificial intelligence systems.