Constructed Narratives

Constructed Narratives Construction Kit
Tangible Social Interface

To construct is to creatively invent one’s world by engaging in creative decision-making and problem solving activities. The act and metaphor of construction is used to illustrate how a simple artifact – a building block – can provide an interactive platform to support discourse between participants.

For updated information about the 2007-2008 prototype go to:
http://www.constructednarratives.com

The Constructed Narratives Construction Kit is a tangible game interface built on the 802.15.4 wireless protocol designed for supporting players social awareness of others who are also engaged in the collaborative building activity.

Constructed Narratives is a tangible electronic construction kit of pentomino shaped blocks (complex shapes assembled from five cubes). A three dimensional virtual visualization of the physical construction is projected into the game play area in real time as players build with the physical blocks. The 3D visualization is not only a mirror of the physical construction but incorporates a landscape of dynamically changeable words that are encased inside each transparent block in the visualization. These words are generated from a search algorithm that identifies specific patterns in the physical construction.

This project has been funded by:
National Science Foundation CISE CreativeIT program (award # 0715304)
Carnegie Mellon University Berkman Faculty Development Fund
The Dean of the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University
The Rockefeller Foundation, Creativity and Culture Division