i-THEATRE… The interactive tale

The prototype was shown during the last edition of the Researchers’ Night and now, after a period of in-depth examination, i-THEATRE is being tested. The system allows children to invent tales and develop narrative skills. It will be displayed at the Science Museum of Trento starting from Saturday May 28^th, everyday from 4.00 to 6.00 p.m. (except on mondays and wednesdays), to July 3^rd.

The project aims to explore new challenging and evident ways of interaction through the use of objects in order to create a complete and flexible instrument for didactical structured and collaborative activities based on storytelling. A small table with multi-touch screen leverages the synergy between creative process and game and takes advantage of interactivity, multimedia and digital world.

i-THEATRE is a research project lead by EduTech S.r.l. that has concurred to the development of the software, under the scientific coordination of CREATE-NET that has developed and analyzed the touchable interfaces. the Bruno Kessler Foundation also contributed to the project by taking care of the design aspects while the Science Museum elaborated the didactical employment in the museum environment. In addition, the expertise of Nella Valentini, pedagogist and illustrator, played a role in the project for the educational and pedagogical aspects and the stage management.

How it works

Children draw characters of their tale and the setting of the story using paper and markers. Afterwards they customize paper glasses that are provided with a small button - an RFld (Radio Frequency Identification) tag - that gives the glass a unique identity and allows children to interact with the table. The drawings are inserted in the “table of tales” through a slot and then are displayed on the multi-touch screen. In this way they enter a new “digital” dimension where the characters become “alive” on the screen and can be moved, manipulated with hands, animated, widened, shrunk, turned over by children. Children can thus tell their tale with the use of the interactive screen and also record their voice. What has been created can be reviewed, shared and reinterpreted fostering the learning process through a cycle of playful activities and reflection on the work done.