Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 1.
The interactive stuffed storyteller assistant.
planning
who
will say
what
,and
when
, while arranging graphical objects.
In the database of stories users can write or record the inspirational stories
that will be offered by the sage. They can index them with personal and
moral values that they consider good descriptors of the main story points.
-
Interface
: is the layer through which a user communicates with the system,
composed by the computer screen and a programmable interactive soft toy
that behaves as the storyteller's assistant. The toy moves its ears, shakes its
body and blinks its eyes to indicate attentiveness. These body movements
can also be programmed by the children (see Figure 1).
Becoming sage by designing a SAGE
We conducted several studies to examine children's interactions with the sage
storytellers, and their ability to build their own meaningful characters. Our
earliest research showed that children engaged deeply with sages that we had
designed, such as a Hasidic Rabbi and a Buddhist scholar (Umaschi 1996).
When interacting with them, children revealed aspects of their inner lives
and the problems they face everyday. For example, below is an extract from
a conversation log between a ten year old and the Hassidic Rabbi:
